Solatorobo: Part 3 Rise of Azul
by Ragon WolfBane
Summary: Red and the gang can get back to living normal lives of being hunters after Re-Coda . Though not for long as the Shepherd Republic is placed into Chaos and its up To red and the gang to stop the madness before its to late! *Contains Spoilers*
1. An Ironic Mission

Chapter 1: an Ironic mission

The blinding sun hanged high overhead of a beautiful floating city. Mid spring as the flowers bloomed in its large parks as the cities inhabits were off doing their own important things through their day to day life style. Such was a common time of mid-day in the always busy city of Pharaoh that People flocked in large crowds, leaving and entering into new ones. Ships flew overhead and train rails ran about, blowing their horns as signals for departure a simple beauty of such a vast city.

Although sadly there lays a few torn buildings, broken and deformed from a great threat that had arisen near the city not too long ago. Although most of the damage was all but removed the scars of destruction and madness caused by a trio of Hybrids and their mystical and horrifying metal Giants Lares and Laress. With Their power they nearby brought an end to all life in the world, although to most though they did not know this. Only knowing that pair of mad strange creatures caused great scars that still rippled through the world. But their power reached a height when a strange shield ball of some kind had appeared and descended upon the city. It was not till the combined efforts of many brave souls though that the enemy was defeated.

Although it seemed useless to most with the aid of Lares and Laress who managed to open the shield for only a few seconds was the Creature known simply as Tartaros was destroyed. Most also did not know what had happened behind the scenes where a brave hero had defeated and returned peace to the world. Such glory was saved for the hero need not be praised for his victory. The peace of the world was all he needed as payment… and so along with his friend Elh the hero set back to his life of being a hunter. Nine months passed after that faithful day.

Sadly though, what little did he know was that peace had not been achieved because somewhere deep in the earth of a floating island lay a flickering light. Behind that light lied steel walls, enclosing around a secret location.

The Sound of computers beeping and buzzing about as they went about working around, systems being check and DNA analyzing and construction was underway. The computer Voice spoke clearly and loudly "Creation process 98% complete. Subject *Error Subject name unfound* is completing final mental checkup."

The system whizzed about as a tube like tank slowly came out of a nearby wall. Vapor steaming from it as slowly slid forward into the center of a test chamber. The chamber had been dirty, vines falling from the ceiling as a sign of which the lab had long been abandon for vegetation had taken its footing in the building "System checkup complete, Mental State is *Warning Unstable* complete. Releasing test subject in thirty seconds. Any rejections to completion are to be filed now. *Error* recommending recreation, subject is unstable. Five seconds till release."

As the computer lifted the tube, the Subjects started to awaken, his eyes quickly scanning about. "Process… Process…" The computer started to lap, the system was breaking down.

The Subject shook inside his water filled prison. Eyes narrowed as he pressed his hands against the glass. The tube suddenly to turn bright as it exploded. The subject falling from it, coughing up the water that he had been trapped in for so long. After the subject had filled his lungs with the first breath of life he would take. He turned to the computer, looking down at his hand as he stated moving it into a fist, feeling the soft skin. "Hmm… Strange." He slowly looked back to the computer, grinning darkly. He lifted his hand "Lets see." he muttered before a small ball of light had formed in the creature's hand, he slightly pushed the light forward as the mystical ball soon pressed against the wall.

The lab had then been engulfed in a bright light; a loud explosion shook throughout the facility as the computer along with the chamber the subject had been in were both removed from existence by the blast. The facility started to shake for the explosion had weakened the foundation of the lab and it started to collapse in upon itself. The subject cared little for what had happened as he started to stumble "Not ready yet…" he muttered while he stumbled further, still little weak from his awakening.

He released another blast from his hand that landed against a nearby steel wall, breaking through it and the earth that lied on the other side. Day light appeared upon the other end of the blast as the remains of the facility were being crushed by the falling earth. The subject walked out towards the light, his final words before the light had consumed him were hateful, dark… "Process complete…"

Meanwhile back at Pharaoh at that exact moment the Lone Robot Rider who had saved the world was in the process of his latest and greatest task… "Gah get back here you damn rat!" rodent catching. Red Savarin the seventeen year old caninu charged in after the rodent, he couldn't use his Dahak to get into the tight spaces of the warehouse so his only option was to do it on foot.

"Come on Red, You can do it!" His Felineko friend Elh Melizee supported Red from atop a crate. She giggled as Red was charging about, hopeless at catching the rodents.

"Come on, come on, I almost…!" Red yelled out before smashing into a crate, falling back. He rubbed his head softly as he looked up to see the crates tumbling, soon englufting the Caninu's form. "Gah!" He said while crawling out.

Elh could not contain herself from giggling softly. "Red I suggest you stop for a moment, if you keep mindlessly chasing them you won't catch them. After all I had already done my side an hour ago." She jumped down from her crate and walked up to him, offering her hand for support. "Get up now before the Rats get away."

Red smiled softly, taking the hand and with Elh's aid quickly lifted himself up. He rubbed the back of his head, releasing a heavy sigh "Fine, let's do it your way." Red could never truly argue with Elh anyway for many reasons, most of them embarrassing ones as well.

"Now then seeing I think you have gone through enough trouble… plus I rather you not lose any brains you had left…" Elh teased before walking over to the rodents "I'll take it from here…" Elh then got into an almost prowl like stance, slowly creeping upon the rodent. She pounced and within a spilt second Elh had the rat within her grasp, carrying the squirming critter by the tail. "See nothing to it…" she said while placing the rodent in a nearby cage full of fellow rodents.

"Yeah, although I am not a Felineko so I don't have natural rat catching abilities. Besides I thought girls were scared of rodents?" Red said with a soft smirk, causing Elh to blush a bit, tempter rising for a moment.

She clenched her fist "Well at least I catch them, rather then you charging blindly into crates! This is the third time you been buried in boxes!" Elh returned spitefully. Red choose to back off, he already has seen the fury of Elh and would not like another slap to his face for the day. Besides after so many head on collisions with the hard iron crates, Red couldn't really do with a much greater headache.

"So let us turn in the reward" Elh said while picking up the cage, walking out with head held high, a sign of which she was still angry with the Caninu.

The dog followed loyally behind her; till they were outside and he managed to get back atop his Dahak. "Good, now I feel whole again!" Red gave a soft cheer.

Elh on the other hand was handing the Cage to the client, a small Merchant caninu who thanked the two and offered up Seven hundred rings. "Thank you and have a nice Day!" Elh said, waving to her merchant as they walked off, Red remaining atop his Dahak.

Red turned to Elh, who looked away from him with a loud "Hmpfh!" leaving the two in a almost painfully silent walk to the train station.

"Okay, seeing I will not have any other choice… I'm sorry." Red sighed, hating to submit, yet it was as always the case with Elh. Elh turned back to Red, still having the bland look on her face "You're forgiven, not your fault that those blows to your head made you forget how to think. Although that is you most the time" She added with a soft smile.

Red laughed as well. "Yeah I guess your right." Red agreed as they started for the port, going back to the ship for a rest laughing together as they always had at the end of a long day.

"So when do you think we will be able to afford those new upgrades for the Asmodeus? You know how Chocolat loves her upgrades?" Elh asked as they took a trip upon the nearby Train, being the fastest way to the port.

"Well, seeing that pirate activity has rapidly increased, a few guns or such would cost us a couple thousand Rings. Plus ammo…" Red trailed off for a moment, seeming to stare at the carts ending.

"What is wrong?" Elh asked as she leaned over to see while Red was viewing, nothing at all really aside a few dents in the ceiling.

"I-It is the cart where I fought Blanck and Nero…" Red trailed off, for the scars of the past had not fully healed. He remembered while they fought… he had a gun to his advantage. Yet even if he defeated them, nothing could change the truth of which had happened… the day he had the order. The one Order that turned him into a vile creature who not only killed his kin, but harmed the one thing he sought to protect most of all.

Elh sighed lightly, the train starting to depart. "Red, I thought you had long since passed that mistake. It wasn't your fault and you know it." Elh tried to comfort the depressed Caninu who nodded hesitantly.

"I know, yet it doesn't make it any easier. Besides I do still have nightmares…" Red admitted the nightmares where he screams out for Elh as his world crumbled around him. As If he was there watching himself harming everyone he loved… yet he could nothing to stop it.

Yet Elh did not take shock to this small truth. Red had been tossing and turning at night after all and offend found little rest till she would comfort him with a few words while he slept. "Why can't you let go, if you fear that they despise you for your deed then why might they have saved you?" Elh tried a more reasonable approach which Red shrugged off

"It is not so much their deaths and thoughts that I fear of…" Red began to say. Elh tilted her head a tad bit, giving a puzzling look to him as she was about to ask what it was that was wrong till the train had stopped. "Let's go." Red stated before walking out, Elh following behind this time.

Once in the more lively air the Caninu's features seemed to brighten up rather quickly. He turned back to the half worried purple Felineko and smiled softly "Let's get back to Chocolat before it gets late." Red said as he offered up his hand to Elh, who took it. She gave a soft smile and nodded

"Let's go then!" She gave a soft cheer, matching with the Caninu's before they started to run off atop the Dahak, heading straight to their home.

Meanwhile at the Asmodeus it there was a transmission coming in, only to be picked up by no other Ace pilot then Chocolat, the pink slightly frilly Caninu. "Hello?" she said, smiling up at the screen which appeared to be none other than Calua Napage.

"Hello is this thing on?" he asked with his casual misfit tone. He was looking down at the tiny screen on the control pad. "Yes it is on Calua, long time no see!" Chocolat said with a sweet smile.

The Orange colored Felineko smiled after looking up to see the larger screen "Hey dude. It's good to see you! Where is the Red dude? I want to talk to him!" He asked while looking close to the screen, his eye filling up most the screen on Chocolat's end as he looked around pointlessly.

"Uh well he is out on a job, should be back shortly though. Can I take a message for him?" she asked trying to keep the sweet smile. "Nah, if he's not there he is not there. We can handle it…" suddenly a whack came behind the Felineko's head, in return causing him to smash his head against the control panel and slide down off the chair out of eeped in reaction.

"Sorry about that Ms. Chocolat." Gren, the blue loyal caninu said, his straight face hiding his emotion's as always. He took the seat and looked to her "Listen, we need Red to report to the Golden Roar at once. Lady Opera is demanding he come, we have a job." Gren was about to go on till suddenly Calua got up and yelled "Not cool dude!" Which Gren simply stated in a calm voice "You were not following Opera's orders properly so I took over!"

Calua sighed and shrugged "Ahhh well." He leaned in to the screen and smiled to the pink caninu "Well listen, once the Red dude comes on board head for the Golden Roar. We will explain the rest later!" Chocolat nodded and waved "Okay bye guys, See you later!" She said, which both replied with a goodbye. "Goodbye Ms. Chocolat" and "Later Dude!" Before the transmission ended.

Chocolat leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Wonder what that was about." She thought to herself as she went back to her checkup on the basics of the ship.

"Were home!" Red called as he entered into the bridge followed by Elh. "Good to see work went well. Hope it wasn't too much trouble." The pink caninu smiled as she turned to the two.

"Well I had no problems what so ever." Elh said, smiling a bit as she turned to Red, smirking as she added "Red did fine as well. He put a lot of hard work into the job." Red felt a little tense and nodded "Yeah I did just fine. Although I'm a little sore." He said as he took a seat.

Chocolat went over to a nearby chair and started to press a few buttons. "She's ready to sail now. We also got a call that I think you should hear about." Red turned to Elh as they both leaned in, interested.

Chocolat explained the transmission in detail, aside Calua's abuse from Gren. "Well and then they told me they needed to see you about a job. So what should we do?" She asked The Red caninu who processed the pink Caninu's words. "Hmmm… well I think we should head off. I mean we do need work still to pay for your upgrades. So we should make ready for takeoff in an hour. Till then though…" suddenly though there was a loud blasting sound as the trio turned to see a large mob forming nearby. Fire lightly up further in the distance.

"Red what's going on?" Chocolat asked as the mob was moving down the street to the city hall; her voice gave away her fears. Red peered through the half lighted city. Dusk was coming upon the golden town.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling." Red responded as he went running down the hallway to the hanger, Elh calling after him "Where are you going!" Red turned back and yelled, not slowly down "Going to make sure no one gets hurt!" and before Elh could stop Red he was already on the Dahak and gone. "Be careful…" Elh muttered silently to herself as he headed off into the city.

Red walked through the streets, no one was there. The streets were empty and not a sound was heard. Most of the windows were closed as it seemed a lot of the people were hiding from whatever had happened. Red kept running down the street in Dahak, picking up speed till he reached the court yard for the town hall, full of people. By the time he had gotten there night had already settled in.

"Let us in! We demand to see the Mayor!" a Caninu citizen screamed at a security guard who kept the rather large mob at bay with his fellow officers. "Please people, go home. The Mayor is not seeing anyone at this moment." A guard with a speakerphone ordered. This only riled the rioting crowd more.

Red looked around as he walked over to someone "Hey." He called to a Small Felineko girl "Do you know what's going on?" he asked as she looked up at him. "oh not really, all I know is that they want to see the Mayor. I thought this was a party but I'm starting to get scared… these people seem really angry… I'm getting out of…" She said before suddenly screaming as a blast was heard.

Red turned over to see a man with a large revolver, pointing it at the guards "Let us in right now! I am not scared to use this on you bastards." The rather large Caninu shouted. Apparently he was the mob's leader "Sir put the weapon down at once!" a Felineko officer ordered to the mob leader.

"Oh yea… and what are you going to do if I don't?" he said while suddenly firing near the officer's head. Who fell back in reaction, panting a bit from the moment of shock gripping his heart "No daddy!" The Girl screamed. "Okay that's just nuts!" Red said to himself before then starting to move through the crowd.

The crazed man held the gun high and pointed it at more of the officers. They couldn't do anything without causing the angered crowd to be sent into a fury if they tried to reach the armed Caninu "See nothing! That's why the military left us when we were in dire danger! Let's take the town hall everyone!" He said while riling the crowd.

Red couldn't stand by any more as he yelled out "Stop it!" He said while atop his Dahak. "Oh yea?" The man turned to the Red caninu with gun in hand, pointing it to him. "So you're going to stop me kid? Another government scum?" The man asked as he started to pull on the trigger.

Red quickly rushed forward, using Dahak's hands to block the man's fire as Red approached. Soon enough he lifted the man after securing him into a tight hold. "Ahh! Let go of me!" The man yelled, dropping the weapon. Red crushed the gun under Dahak's foot and released the man, who fell and to the ground and coughed "Sorry." Red gave a sour apology while the people around him started to yell, throwing trash and rocks in anger.

"Gah looks like the scene isn't getting pretty." Red told himself as then the Riot leader yelled out once he had air in his lungs again "Get him now! He's another spy of the government! Get him!" Before Red could tell the people he wasn't such a thing men started to climb up atop the Dahak to reach Red.

"Ahh shit! Looks like there is no other way." Red reached down to his belt and pulled out his sword stungun. A man lifted up his fist to try and attack Red, lucky though Red shifted to the side. He had no choice as he blasted a man back who tried to attack him once more. Feeling the electric shock the "He shot him? Get him!" Another Felineko yelled out as Red turned his blade sideways, smashing the same Felineko in the side knocking him off.

Another tried to hit him with a wooden board which Red ducked and punched him in the gut. "Gah!" The man cried and fell off the side. Red was caught in a hot spot, every single rioter he took down another one would replace him along with a fellow one. Red even took a blow to the back with a heavy wooden broad, releasing a growl of pain. Red kept the fight going long enough before he could finally push some of the Dahak's controls which swung the arms about.

Many of the men who had jumped on were thrown off from the metal arms swinging about and it made room for Red to move about in the crowd.

Though Red was soon surrounded once more by more of the mob "This is pointless and I can't beat them all…" Red started to charge forward, the crowd moving out of his way till it opened way to the same man with a new gun "Take this!" he said while he fired. Quickly Red brought Dahak's arms to the ground and pushed upward, flinging himself past the crowd and out in the end of the street.

"Get him he is running away." The mob leader yelled out as the people started to chase after the Robot Rider.

"Sorry but I do have places to be!" Red said in a cocky manner as he ran through the streets. He saw the girl he had talked to a moment ago, worry they might harm her Red picked her up quickly "No get away!" She said while hitting and kickings Red side "Ahh stop! I'm a good guy." Red tried to convince her and she ooohed "Okay then run!" She said while looking back

The problem now was though that the mob was catching up on him, some within their own Robots now. Red placed on his communicator and called Chocolat while he was being pursed. "Sis, get the ship ready now!" He ordered. "Red? What's going on!" She asked as a gun shot just grazed the side of the Dahak "Red!" She called out. The little girl screaming in fear as she hid inside the Dahak.

"I'm still here! but something's up. Go now and get the ship up! Just hurry!" Red ordered as he was now getting shot at by a few mob members. "Shit!" He said while then having to grip hold of a nearby lamp post and throwing it down, blocking the mob for a moment. "Keep moving now!" The mob leader ordered.

Red then looked to the girl and suggested "It might be time to get you home…" he said while then picking her up with the Dahak "Hey be careful!" She wiggled about as Red then asked "Where is your home?"

The little girl pointed to a nearby house and Red Stopped and sat her down "You stay out of places like those now do you hear?" Red ordered and the little girl nodded "Thank you! You saved my daddy!" She said while waving goodbye to the fleeing Red "Thanks tell him your welcome for me!"

Red had made it out of sight from the mob in the time he managed to save from skipping through a few alleys now; he turned through the streets and up to the port. Seeing that the ship was in the air he smiled "Red!" Elh called from atop the ship as the hangar opened. "I'm coming hold on." Red replied as he started to run to the port.

Then without warning the Mob leader along with serival men came out from the side alleys, panting a bit "h-ha… knew you be c-coming." He panted before then raising a rifle. "Take this!" He yelled before Red lifted up his arms once more to block the bullet. Although the firing worsened as a few more men joined into the volley of bullets by using their rifles and side arms as well.

Red was pinned and having to move back but noticed something on his left soon he smiled "Sorry but I don't plan to stay here very long!" He said while taking hold of a shipping crate, charging forward with it blocking the men's guns. "Gah… that's it!" Red yelled while throwing the Crate, the people moving aside in order to dodge it. Then Red jumped atop the crate and jumped into the hanger opening for The Asmodeus.

"Later!" Red called out as the Mob leader started to fire once more. "You won't get away!" He shouted before firing one last shot. "Out of ammo!" he yelled out throwing his gun to the ground.

Red just chuckled "Later!" he waved before the hanger door closed. Elh ran down and looked to Red who smiled at her "Hey… that was a lot rougher than I expected."

Elh was about to punch his gut, clenching her fists for Reds own safety "You idiotic dog you could have been killed!" She yelled out. Walking up in his face "Do you know how much we were worried!"

"Yea but I wa… I wa…" Red's eyes suddenly closed as he fell atop Elh. "R-red?" She asked, blushing a bit as she wiggled underneath him "Red! Get off this isn't funny!" Elh ordered the caninu who didn't reply. "R-red?" she said concerned till then suddenly she felt a warmth against her fingers… it was hot like a warm body… and felt thick as well.

"Red hold on I'll get you help!" She said getting free. Red had been shot in the left shoulder; the pure rush of adrenalin must have made the Caninu unknown of it. "Chocolat!" Elh screamed as they rushed back to Red… who lied in a half unconscious state.

The last thing Red could see before darkness had over taken him was Elh's face… something felt odd… he couldn't see it… but he felt something wet, warm. Was it the blood flowing from him… he just couldn't tell. As it fell upon his face… was it… "Elh?" his lips motioned before he was out.

"RED!"

Red felt the world rush around him in a dreamlike state "Am I dead?" He seemed to ask in a void that surrounded his clouded mind "No…" A voice replied to him.

"Where am I?" Red asked again as he looked around "Your safe now. Just relax." The voice tried to comfort the Caninu. "Who are you?" Red asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly "Your salvation" The voice stated, the worlds echoing till at the edge of the void appeared a bright light, "no… I don't want to leave yet…" Red said while trying to move away from the light as it started to grow.

"No! No!" he yelled out before the light had taken his form. He slowly raised his eyes and looked about… before him stood Elh, smiling sweetly as she offered up a flower to the caninu "Elh?" He asked as she motioned the flower to him.

He raised a brow and slowly took it with a soft smile "I had the strangest dream again…" He began to say before then Elh pressed her index to his lips

"Shhh its okay now. Don't worry… its not your fault." She smiled sweetly "Wait? My fault for what?" Red asked as Elh leaned in, then he saw a small tear form in Elh's left eye… as it wasn't a normal tear but red… "That you killed me…" She muttered as she started to decay before him, his blade within her as he was left in shock.

Elh fell down, lifeless and Red's hands were stained with her blood "W-What have I… I didn't do this… no, no, no" He said to himself as he looked down at her. "Please Elh don't go!"

Red shook the lifeless body of the felineko as the blood pooled around him staining the flowers that Elh loved so much. "D-Damn it!" Red screamed out as a deep voice called from the darkenss that soon enfolded Red and Elh's dead body. "Its all your fault."

Red looked around seeing no one in sight. "What?" He said with a nervous tone

"You killed her…"

"No I didn't!"

"Enjoyed it…"

"Shut up I didn't do it!" He said while tears streamed from his eyes

"I know you did it… you murdered her"

"NO I didn't how can you say such a thing…" Red argued with the formless voice as then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around to see a dark reflection of himself, smirking with blood dripping from his fingers

"Because I am you."

Red screamed as then rising up from the bed, yelling out "NO!". Red looked around fall back, looking around as he started to pant a bit "Gah" he muttered while turning to his side, leaning on his patched up shoulder.

His vision was fuzzy, barley able to see he was in some sort of medical room. "My, my you do always find a way to get yourself into some nasty situations don't you feisty pup?" a women's voice giggled as Red turned over to his right looking to see who it was.

What stood before him was a Purple Felineko, much taller than Elh as she smiled "Well lucky for you Opera is always here to help." She smiled sweetly

. "H-hey, where am I?" Red asked weakly. "You're on the Golden Roar." Opera quickly responded while moving over to Red. "W-What? How did I end up here?" He asked, mind still hazy from the events that had happened.

"You lost a lot of blood, Elh and Chocolat were able to do a quick fix on your arm but at the time you were looking a little to pale. So they brought you here, you have been out for nearly nine hours." Opera explained.

Red Just groaned "N-nine hours huh? Guess I did kind of overdue it… but at least I'm here for the job." Red smiled, giving a soft chuckle.

Opera sighed "So helpless you are I feel sorry for her. Either way, your cute little friend wanted me to get her once you woke up. I'll send her in." Opera said before walking out of the room. Not even giving time for Red to see if he was okay with this.

Red could hear some chatting in the background before Elh charged into the room, looking to Red. "Red! Your awake!" Elh's voice cracked abit as she started to tear up abit. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Red smiled weakly as he looked at her, then up at the ceiling.

Elh, at first seeming sad and scared then turned to a smile. Although behind her was a dark aura as she approached a nerve showing as her fists clenched "I was so worried and yet you seem to act as If nothing happened."

Red widens his eyes as he started to feel nervous sweat forming along the his face "U-uh well you see… I mean of course I'm better cause of you!" Red tried to defuse the situation. Yet to no avail

"You jerk! I worried here none stop! I thought you might have died!" Elh started to scream as she even punched him in his wound. The Blood showing in the bandages. "GAH!" the poor Red yelped as tears filled up his eyes "Y-you didn't have to do that!" he muttered before then Elh walked out, angrily "Idiotic dog." She coldly muttered, leaving the caninu in his painful state. A few giggles were heard as he understood a certain sister and lady were listening in.

"Man…" he muttered as he looked up at the ceiling. Retracing the events that had followed through, this wasn't the first time he had seen a riot forming out of many composed fan girls. Although often it was when he was dragged along to guard Chocolat as she got some sort of new hit single. Although Red didn't mind helping his little sister out there was still no danger, not compared to what had happened yesterday. Or was it today? Red didn't honestly know anymore and neither did care for that matter.

Red slowly lowered his eyes to go back to asleep, the pain subsiding in his arm from Elh's punch as he relaxed, rested up. The world around him became a blur once more as he heard Chocolat wishing to come in. yet Elh seemed to be stopping her.

"Red is trying to rest. Apparently the loss of blood has caused him to become even worse of a fool then before." Elh yelled out which almost caused Red to return the insult after awakening from the loud noise.

Although he thought about taking another painful punch and just lied back down, sleeping the pain away. The world phasing by him as he drifted off to a new dream. Sleeping soundly as the sounds of the outside world faded from existence. The dream did not haunt him, not this time… but something made it hard for him to rest.

Red awoke the next morning, not by the sounds of others. Not by the soft turns of the ship as it rode upon the wind. No for in the end Red was awakened with a nice heavy wooden box falling atop his face. It must have jerked loose from a sharper turn.

"Gah!" Red yelled out as he flailed about abit while off guard. Pulling the box off his face, rubbing his snout softly. "Oh damn" he muttered. His snout was alright this time and he didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere. "Who puts cargo in a place like this?" Red said while lifting the box and upon it written in rather poor handwriting and a nice large kitty face

"Hey Dude got you a nice get well gift! Get better soon." Red tilted his head, looking inside to see what had Calua had brought him. "What the…" he said while looking at a box simply full of stones.

"I don't get the joke…" Red muttered before setting the box aside. Sighing as he tried to go back to sleep, till of course a loud feline had come into the room once more

"Hello Darling! Are you feeling better yet?" Opera asked with a wide cheerful smile. "You could knock you know." Red said as he slowly sat up, looking at his shoulder and back at her "Yes also I am feeling better." Red added as he turned himself about, standing up out of the bed.

"Well it is my ship but I understand pup. Also that is good to hear because we are about to go over your mission." Opera replied while leading the semi-recovered caninu to his stuff. "Your clothing is all in there. We had to take them off and wash them of course from the blood. They should be cleaned now though" Red blushed for a moment "So wait you guys saw me in my boxers?"

Opera giggled softly "Not me. I think of was your little girl friend." Opera winked and walked out. Red replying with a loud "She's not my girlfriend!"

Red got dressed, seeing a small patch that covered up the bullet tare. It was also lucky his clothing was such a shade that the small stains of blood that couldn't be undone were not seen too well.

Once he finished, tying his shoes on he placed upon his hat he walked out. He had known the ship with the time he had spent on it, fighting the hybrids and Bruno. The trouble that had happened… and the pain he was placed through with the tiring simulations. He walked into the meeting hall with Gren, Calua and Opera awaiting him.

"About time you got here." Gren said to Red, sounding irritated by the matter "You shouldn't keep lady Opera waiting."

"Well I was in the middle of a nice nap so I rather you speed this up. It's going as slow as your combat speed!" Red replied with a smart tone.

"Why you little…" Gren growled before Calua broke in between the two

"Hey dude! Get my gift?" He asked while pushing Gren away, causing the blue caninu to drop the issues for now.

"Yea… it fell on me hard… dude…" Red replied as he then pondered for a moment before asking "What was the joke?"

The airheaded Felineko replied "Well you seemed out of it and I was told you're a rock head so I thought give the dude rocks! You know to make you feel better?" He smiled softly, honestly thinking that might have worked.

Red's eyes went wide "What was this guy thinking." He thought. He flared up in fury as he muttered "And who said that?" already having a good guess that a certain Felineko was saying things again.

"Uh well it was Chocolat!" he answered the caninu whose face went from a raging red to a blue in gloom hunch backing as a storm appeared over his head 'not literally of course'

"Aww now she's making fun of me as well…" While the caninu gloomed, Elh and Chocolat came in from the main entrance

"We are here." Elh announced while noticing Red being rather blue… "Is there something wrong Red?" Elh asked with a small hint of concern in her voice. Red looked over, noticing it was Elh and perked back up as if nothing was wrong. "N-nope nothing at all. I'm totally fine!" Red fearing for what might happen if he got upset again… and angered Elh.

Elh was about to ask Red again for the truthful answer but then a loud smash was heard as Opera slammed a clip bored onto the nearby table. "Here" She said while sliding it to Red, who caught it and looked at it.

"So the mission huh?" Red asked, not bothering to Red the details. "Yes looks like the blood loss hasn't affected your brain too much." Red thought to himself "Her to…" as he felt the clouds rolling back in. "The Details are in the fine print…." Opera began to explain before Chocolat spoke up "Wait! I want to hear it from you Opera… what is this mission?"

Opera leaned abit onto the table with her right side, looking away from the pink caninu "Hmm where to begin…" She said to herself… leaving the trio of Red, Elh, and Chocolat in suspense as she hmed for a long time.

"Well you see you pups. After you defeated Tartaros there was much chaos to clean up. Lucky for you though only the Kurvaz were the ones to do all the picking. We didn't bother to tell them what had fully happened but they seemed to think that they managed to defeat it themselves. Among many of the fallen ships we had to scrap were pirates and outlaws that were caught in the middle of it all so after seeing the defeat of those monsters the pirate's moral gone high up." Opera paused and sighed.

"Now here is where it gets bad. You see one f the ships to be rescued had a former major military officer. Seeing the Military had left he went to fight with the people who had to stay… he then brought together the survivors and created a pirate band. Seeing high amounts of resentment were left in the eyes of the people for the government… as you saw earlier" Opera looked to Red's wounded shoulder which in turn Red grabbed.

"Mainly the riots and protests have been out on the limits of the Shepard republic. "With the government in a strain to maintain control over the situation the Military officer known only as The Jackal was able to lead it to a new height. Pretty soon they took over an island and the cities that were upon it. Setting it up as there base was easy due to the fact that they seemed like a rebellion in the peoples eye. That was five months ago then the group turned to attack traders and supply ports people. No longer just the government, the officer had not known this at the time. He wanted to overthrow the government but not harm the people if it wasn't needed… although that didn't last him long as he was killed on the sixth month after Re-Coda." Opera paused for a breath

"Some sort of Crime lord called Vero Fangsol was then in charge. He was so kind of Big baddy that grew up in Basset, he turned the inter force of the clan over to simply attacking cities and anyone else they felt like. They are currently called Blue Devils but most call them Fire Fanglings. Seeing that Fangsol is also a pyro maniac they often carry fire based weapons. They are also not easy to track or to defeat in combat either. Even so what they lack in weapons they make up in high numbers, seeing that makes me worried. They have already stroke out against us and it is clear that they have assumed what I have… with the countless government issues going on and the military in disarray the only ones who could stop Fangsol from taking the Republic by force would be the Kurvaz. Seeing I rather not go to war with them empty handed I like to get some files on their actions. Holding a few cards is always better then holding none." She then pointed to the trio "That is where you come in."

Red looked to Opera who pointed mainly to him, before he could respond though Elh yelled out "That is too dangerous… Red already got shot once and now he needs to go into the heart of the madness that caused it!" Only to be followed up by Chocolat "I agree that is way too much…"

Red replied with a soft smile as he muttered "You guys."

Opera chuckled "Well let's see what the pup thinks. A lot of people will get hurt in this war and I rather we get as much aid as we could in the battle. So what shall it be oh so mighty Hunter?" Opera asked… all eyes turning to Red.

Red had been quiet for a while now… the silence in the room almost made him nervous as he raised a brow and asked "Where are the Files?" Elh and Chocolat seeming in shock

"Red you can't be thinking of going through with this!" Elh argued but red raised his hand as if asking for silence. This made Elh mad… but she stayed silent.

"It is on a ship I think you and the cute kid there would remember quite well…" She slowly chuckled and continued "It's the Hindenburg. Well at least part of it anyway, seems like the pirates are scraping up what they could… it's abit of irony also seeing that the Hindenburg was a Kurvaz ship we still have the codes to it. This is why you are going onto it."

Red was taken back a bit by this news. The ship he had met Elh and taken the medallion was still about somewhere. Although Red didn't know what to think as he looked down, a dark aura seeming to form around him as he was thinking of it all… war and such always angered the Caninu and he didn't want to go through what had happened again from the other day. But if it meant saving lives…

Red raised his head and looked to Opera with a soft smirk… "Alright I'm on the case!" He gave a thumb up.

Meanwhile Elh sighed and then muttered "Moron."

Opera smiled "Good Now then seeing we will be flying to the drop off point in about two hours I suggest you rest up… oh and you're Moth- I mean Merveille wanted me to get you once you were recovered. She said she was doing some upgrades on Dahak down in the lab." The Felineko women suggested before walking away. "I have duties to run so I won't see you off… will you be okay?" she asked with a soft smirk.

Red smirked and nodded "Would you expect anything else from me?" He said with a wide grin. He then turned to Chocolat and Elh who slowly started to smile with the cheered up Red "Looks like we are back in action!" he said as the golden Roar flew through the sky heading to the Hindenburg!

Meanwhile, atop the same island which the lab had once existed The figure of the creature which had destroy his birthplace without a second of hesitation now walked across the small island.

"This is earth… at least what of it now…" he muttered to himself while walking thought the grass fields as the island was rather small, yet not near the Dwarvin Islands.

"Such an ugly piece of rock… a fitting place to find such loathing creatures. They managed to defeat him… but not this time." He raised his hand up, pointing to a nearby island that seemed luckily barren. Though the creature did not care what lived atop it as he released another blast of blinding light that removed the island from existence.

"I'm coming for you…" he muttered as he suddenly grew a pair of metal like wings, which he started to soar off into the distance. His figure disappearing into the rising dawn

"Red Savarin!"

Ragon WolfBane: Well thanks Guys for Reading if you managed to make it this far. I will be posting out a new one at least every week so stay tuned.

Mark: You need to stop obsessing about Solatorobo man.

Ragon Wolfbane: I CAN QUIT ANY TIME I WANT!

Stay tuned :3

H!"11 .


	2. HindenBurg V2

Chapter 2: Hindenburg V.2

Flying in upon the amazing gliding Robot, Red made his approach. Elh alongside him as they flew downward to the rather large, reconstructed Trade ship, The Hindenburg. The ship in it seemed like junk, not even looking safe to drive as it was more likely just crushed together. "Hello? Red can you get my signal?" Chocolat asked while back aboard the golden roar.

Red smiled as he responded "Roger, hearing you loud and clear sis. We are moving in on the target right now…" Elh gripped tightly to Red's arm as they fell at a much faster rate. Making the Felineko of course a little nervous and Red blushing slightly "Yep we're good." She muttered.

"Okay you should be reaching the air pad in about a minute. Although from these scans you might not be able to hear us clearly once you're inside so being careful." Chocolat explained as a loud voice was heard in the background. "Mewoe! Best way to get rid of the communication suppresser is to simply take out the main computer where the flies are so good luck!" Opera stated.

Red turned to Elh "Get that? We need to take out the main computer after we steal the flies." Elh nodded "Got it!" yet before the two landed another voice appeared upon Red communicator

"Red, remember the Upgrades as well. You'll need them at some point so don't be afraid to use them" Merveille reminded Red who replied with an "Okay I got it!"

"Good now good luck you two." Merveille replied before then the communications were handed back to Chocolat.

The Dahak along with its passengers landed upon the steel platform, used for loading and unloading crates. The original Hindenburg had no such thing… improvements to say the least. "Phew that was close… This thing looks like it was made out of ships from basset based on the design" Red seemed to be speaking to himself and semi-comforting the Felineko who gripped his shoulder tightly.

"U-Uh Elh…" Red shuddered for a moment, blushing abit. "You can let go…" and upon that Elh did release the Caninu from her tight grasp, blushing as well. "Oops sorry."

"Okay Red you should be able to still hear me, entering in on the supply pad will be the best option because they can pick up anything yet. We will shut down the communications shortly so they don't figure out your in there." Chocolat explained before adding "Oh and Elh… make sure he doesn't get himself hurt again for me!"

Elh giggled "Alright I can agree to that." Red sighed in response to this "Okay turning off the communicator now. Wish us luck!" Before Red turned off and pulled out the device, setting it in a storage container inside the Dahak.

Meanwhile deeper in the Hindenburg…

"Vhat! Vhat do you mean there was signs of a ship nearby! I thought ve vere on top security!" A man shouted from within the mainframe system.

The door to the room was knocked open as a half beaten to death caninu solider went flying out of it. The solder was wearing a blue like clothing that was similar to the Kurvaz outfit. Only the symbol was a blue flame instead of a black paw. "And not only that you didn't even get a full report!" The angered commander growled. The Solider tried effortlessly to get away though.

"Vorms… All of you…" he said while then taking out a rather large claw like contraption that he had attached to his right fist. Lifting his hand up and smiting down upon the guard who yelped in pain… before his groans of agony were ended with a loud crack sound. .

The blood pooled around the guard's body while the commander lifted himself up off it, pulling his steel claws from the lifeless caninu guard. The blood dripped silently onto the wooden floor as he turned to two pale guards who stood tall in reaction legs trembling. "You two send varning and check the ship for any intruder's right avay. Anyone vho doesn't fulfill their duty to the clan is useless!"

The Soldiers nodded, saluted and yelled "Sir Yes Sir!" Before running off quickly to follow their orders. While the commander cleaned his steel claw "I vill not lose this ship twice!" before he walked back into the mainframe, getting back to his work.

Back with Red and Elh the two had just entered the ship through the supply line. Sneaking into the bottom of the ship was easy for them and went without a single event occurring. Although seeing they were on the lower levels of the ship there was bound to be some form of…

"EEPPPPPPPPPP!"

…pests

"Elh shhh!" Red whispered as they walked through the lower cargo storage area, trying to find an entrance. Although some of the food supplies had come loose do to the many bugs found that Dahak stepped through. The loud crushing sounds of the insects echoed as it caused the Felineko to close her eyes, covering her ears.

"P-please let it be over… please let it be over…" She slowly repeated to herself, opening her eyes to find Red looking at her concernedly. He reached over and smiled softly pulling her into a comforting hug, "Hey come on it isn't that bad… you have me to defend you…" But just as Red was saying that a spider started to move down from its web over to Red.

"Red…" Elh tried to speak but Red went on "So please be quiet, we are trying to remain as stealthy as we can and…" Meanwhile the spider slid down the webs and was nearby the Caninu's cheek.

"Red…!" Elh tried to warn once more as Red asked "What is it?" Before the Spider jumped on to Red's face landing upon his cheek. This caused Red to flinch in reaction and Elh to well…

The loud smacking sound could be heard echoing around the two as Red held his right cheek, tears streaming from his eyes as the steam came off the slam mark. "O-Ow... Ow…" he muttered to himself. Meanwhile Elh blushed and got nervous feeling so bad about doing so.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to… it's just that it was so close and I!" The embarrassed Felineko was cut off as a loud voice yelled out "Hey you!"

Red and Elh turned over to see a guard coming down from the elevator in a Grizzle Mech. The design was large bottom half with thick legs. It had to rely upon it's rather weak arms for support as they were long, in a range of about seventeen feet that were tipped with sharp talons. The mech was about twice the size as Dahak in length.

Red smirked softly as he states "Well looks like we have been discovered! Good! I was tired of sneaking around anyway!" he said while then suddenly charging forward. The guard was surprised to see the small mech user not retreat and charged in as well. Running in a feral like state as the thick legs kicked the cargo out of the way.

Red smiled as the Grizzle mech swung its right arm out, which Red quickly gripped hold off leaving the solder left speechless "Hehe… Thanks I was looking for an opening" Red grinned before he then used Dahak's superior strength to lift the Grizzle mech. The soldier trying to shake free but of no avail.

Red started to swing the mech in a clock like motion, sending the mech flying as he released after two rotations. The Grizzle mech was bashed against the wall and soon as it slammed into the ground it was covered in the cargo crates. This prevented it from moving for sure.

"Well that was easy!" Red smirked before getting punched in the shoulder by Elh "you know you could have been a lot quieter when dealing with him…" She criticized the caninu who growled "Well true but it wasn't my fault he attacked!"

"Yes it is! You started to rush at him first!" Before Elh could continue the criticism six more of the Grizzle Mech's came down upon the duo. Red smirked softly as he looked to Elh "Still want me to be quiet?" Elh narrowed her eyes in a soft anger. "Let them have it then… moron." She muttered before the suddenly they shifted forward.

Red spread himself abit, getting the Dahak into its basic battle stance as he smirked "Come at me!" He taunted the guards which case two of them to charge at the Dahak's front… and left flank. Quickly Red ran straight for the one charging forward at his front having the flanking one gave chase behind him.

One the Grizzle was in range as its claws lifted up as the mech was using its speed to its advantage for the attack, unfortunately it wasn't very agile. Red quickly raised the Dahak's arms up, lifting the front Grizzle mech up just enough that it went flying. The claws of the pouncing mech slamming into the flanking Mech's body which the two rolled and crashed, cargo also following atop them. Following that attempt all four remaining enemy Mech's tried a quick rush.

This wasn't affective as Red quickly used Dahak's boost ability, sending the Caninu's mech up and causing the enemies to rush blindly into each other. Of course though the boost didn't last long and the Heavy Dahak was starting to fall back down "Hold it!" Red yelled as he quickly gripped to a rather large metal crate that hanged from a large storage net, bringing it down. The pilots screaming in fear as the giant metal box came down upon them. Red yelling "Take this!" The next thing seen was four crushed Grizzle Mech's followed with Red and Elh walking away from the wreck.

"Such a show off but impressive none the less." Elh smirked lightly while teasing the caninu before Red rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah… come on we need to move now!" He said while then running to the Elevator that had brought down the Grizzles down in the first place. The two rode the rising platform as it led up to the next tier of the ship.

"Maybe I shouldn't have gone too hard on them. They at least brought us a ride…" Red turned over to the ledge of the platform and smiled "Thanks guys for your help!" he called out while looking at the blacked out or totally tired soldiers.

Before they reached the second tier of the ship Elh quickly muttered something, looking away from Red "I… s… f… hi…"was all that was heard, which caught Red's attention "Sorry what was that?" he asked with Elh saying it again, only more silently which made it ever harder to hear. Red returned it with an annoyed glance and looked away "Fine if you don't want to say it that's fine."

This made the rather silent Felineko turn from a muttered girl to a fury raged beast as she looked to Red, fire blazing within her eyes. "I'm trying to say sorry for slapping you but you're too much of a thick headed moron to listen." She yelled out as Red screamed in terror at the sight of the death bringing Felineko.

As the two once more were left in the silence as the pad released a loud beep sound, stating they reached the second floor. The Felineko out of the Dahak, chin held high in an almost snobby manner as she walked out, followed by Red who whimpered, rubbing his red right cheek from the Felineko's wrath slap.

"Now the flies if I am correct should be on the sixth floor. Sadly the Elevator only took us up to the second floor so we need to find a few ways up." Elh explained to Red who examined the surrounding area, the designs of flags were blue flamed copycats of the Kurvaz own look

"Guess they are not too good with originality." Red joked as Elh seemed to be inspecting about "Maybe it's out of respect seeing the Kurvaz were the ones fighting Tartaros " Elh suggested as she then ran up to a nearby door "I think this is the way… we need a way of opening it though…" Elh looked to the key pad, pressing her fingers against it softly "Hmmm what I can remember from what Opera told us, the numbers seven, three, and eight are used in th…" but before Elh could finish she looked to see Red gripping the opening and ripping it right open.

"You understand that I didn't need any codes to get on beforehand." Red smirked softly as Elh quickly climbed up into the Dahak. "You…" She began before Red cut her off "Am amazing? Yes I am!" He smirked softly before then suddenly Elh busted into another rage "You Idiot! You don't know anything at all! Did you read or even listen to Opera's full on briefing! She gave us the codes so that the alarms wouldn't go…"

The room started to flash Red with the bright light over head as Elh growled in anger at the caninu who was tensing up nervously. Yet to the Caninu's luck the alarms systems were working just fine as the two turned to see turret systems activate. Four double barreled mini gun systems that fired heavy rounds that would rip through normal Mech's, Lucky though Dahak was not normal "Where did they get that tech!" Red screamed as they were suppressed under heavy fire, Red using Dahak's arm. Elh held tight to Red as she was frightened, the sudden situation placing pair in an instinctive pinned down position.

Red quickly had to think as he had little cover, Dahak was strong but the arms were not meant to block bullets as a few of the shells went flying past the cracks in the arms. He quickly yelled out "Have no choice as he quickly jolted, turrets moving with his motions and spraying seemingly endless rounds upon the Mech.

Red was quick witted enough to spot a pair of crates, metal crates was the thing they needed as he charged right into them, hearing the quick and violent sounds of bullets clinging and ricochet off the metal, causing holes in the nearby walls. The turrets stopped for a moment of fire, scanning to see if the target had been emitted. "Elh…" Red whispered as he used Dahak to carefully lift her up. "Stay here I got this under control." The Felineko squirmed at first before being released, looking up at Red "WH-What are you going to do! You'll get killed if you try to charge it." Red simply smirked "I am not going to charge them… I got something new in store." Elh gave a confused stare before Red moved off into the open.

The turrets turned to face him as Red smirked softly. "He he Guess I am going to need this right now…" he said while then moving the Dahak's right arm back the mech pressing a button upon his backside as the strange new sound of whizzing went about within Dahak. The side of Red's seat suddenly clicked and slid out abit, seeming to look like some sort f Key hole. Red lifted up his stun gun and placed it into a slot that then seemed to shin rather bright as Red narrowed his eyes. The Binding light causing glare in the Turrets system and making it unable to fire.

Once the light stopped the turrets turned back, only to have one get shot by a blue like blast. The Turret started to some and twitch from volts of electric shock that short circuited the defense turret before exploding. Following with two others exploding after from being connected to the same system.

"Here" Red smirked as he held out a rather large blade in the Dahak's right hand. The shape was the same as Red's own Stun gun designs only though that instead of a pistol blaster appearing in the back of the blade, this one stretched like a long barrel that met the blade half way.

"I Present The Nano Blade Dahak!" He said while then holding it up high, charging forward now as the rest of the turrets was still shocked from the blast upon the first. He quickly used his boost to fly up, the Blade in hand "Take this!" he yelled out before then the blade sliced the turret clean in half, which exploded behind the Caninu as he fell back down to the floor.

Turning to Elh he smiled "Come on we still need to get those files before they find out what happened!" Elh came out with a bewildered expression upon her face at the sight of the blade "H-how did you?" she asked before Red having lifted her up. "No time to talk we need to move now!"

Elh was in no state to argue as she placed herself back on the Dahak, then charged through the door way. Room after room they searched for an entrance to the second floor. Every room was full of Grizzle's as they entered it. Red with his new blade was able to dispatch of them rather quickly and with little effort.

In total nearly twenty defeated with not a single mark up the Dahak, Elh was even more impressed… did the blade not only give the Dahak a ranged weapon but also increased abilities as well? Although Elh was broken from her throats as quickly the Dahak stopped having found a new elevator.

"Alright let's go!" Red yelled out while they were being fired upon by another defensive system of ceiling turrets. "Why don't you just shoot them down?" Elh cried out as Red managed to use the blade as a better shield then Dahak's own arms. "I can't!" he yelled out, the bullet's bounced off the thick Nano metal.

"Why?" Elh cried out yet again being replied with "I'll explain later!" from Red. They managed to hold the suppression back and move into the lift, taking them out of the turrets firing range. Red panted softly as he wiped his forehead "J-Jess that was close."

With them seemingly out of danger for the moment, the sound of ropes and wire moving about, going to work upon lifting the two up to the next tier. The two remained silent, Red in focus while Elh in a puzzlement. Finally the silence was broken when Red turned to Elh "Okay I guess I will explain…" Red began, flashing back on board to Golden Roar…

Within the Lower Bowels of the Laboratory…

Red stumbled down into the Laboratory, finding no one in sight among the many test tubes, blue prints, mech designs and experiments. "Merveille where are you?" Red called out, walking about, experiments for his biological 'mother'.

He then stumbled over a nearby cord that caused the caninu to trip over, the wire pulling on a nearby table that caused a few heavy wooden boxes to fall atop the Caninu. "o-Ow…" he groaned, dragging himself out of the wreck.

"Well if it isn't my greatest achievement, Hello my son." Merveille walked before Red offered her hand to the cargo crushed Caninu. After lifting him up Merveille quickly stated "I was joking by the way, mostly at least." Her expression was bland and serious as usual. Red often didn't get along well with such people but there was always a small light, a twinkle even one could call it that made Red feel that Merveille was a much, much deeper person that she would perhaps ever let on.

"Well I am here to see you; you called for me after all? While I was sleeping?" Red tried to cut strait to the point but it seemed as it Merveille was to in depth with her work that she was scribbling upon a clipboard. "Uh hello?" Red asked, giving a bit of an annoyed look at the blond Caninu.

Merveille placed a pencil behind her right ear and faced Red "Have your wounds healed?" She asked, having totally undermined Red question causing him to hunch over and sigh "Y-Yes they have. Mostly at least." Red answers while rubbing his wounded shoulder.

"Good." Merveille replied before then pulling out a ruler and slapping the Red caninu against his left cheek, "Then I don't feel shame in doing that." She finished her sentence while Red looked up, rubbing his cheek as tears trailed down. "Why did you do that!" he yelled out, standing up.

"Because you're a moron, you were designed imperfect yet that doesn't imply that you should go off doing incredibly foolish things. Even more so when others have to pay for it afterword." Merveille then released a soft Sigh "I will not lie when I say I was worried." This truth caused Red to blush slightly.

"T-Thank you M-mom." He smiled lightly before then getting slapped again by the ruler, resulting in the same reaction. Red tearing up again "W-Why!"

"You're still a moron." She said, holding the ruler out while in a threatening stance before then lowering it. "I worried for you because you were my finest creation, destroyed by nothing more than a gun would worry me greatly. It insults my name as a scientist." She coated up her emotions were more logical statements.

Red simply smiled "Yea I guess that be awful on your Rep. My bad." Getting up he stretched himself out abit, feeling abit sore still from the boxes… and rulers. "Now before you attack me once more can you tell me as to why you called me here?" Red watched Merveille move over to a nearby door, placing in a code and have it slide open.

"Come." She ordered while walking into the dark room, Red following… hesitantly. Till the door closed the room totally black as he then called out "Merveille?" Before the lights flashed on, at first blinding the caninu before seeing for himself that Dahak, engineering going on behind it as a strange liquid like metal was being slowly poured into a nearby tank that had been attached within the Dahak. "W-What? What are you doing to my Robot!" Red cried out as he turned to Merveille who was working upon it at that very moment.

"I am adding an adaptor of Nano metal." She replied, feeding the strange metal into the tank till it was full. She then turned to Red "I am sure you have noticed that after your battle against Baion that you have not entered in Trance state." Red slowly nodded "Yea? I can do it willingly still… but these days I don't really find the need."

Despite that reason Merveille seemed persists on the topic. "Well the reason I need to add an upgrade to the Dahak is because it the Nano system that you used to escape Tartaros by changing the Dahak has grown tired, you were only in turn able to use it while you are in trance. " She explained to the caninu who gave a confused stare. Merveille sighed softly "Basically only when your power is at its height you are able to change Dahak's form, till then though you can do so little that I wished to add an upgrade… a sort of slot system so to speak." Red perked his ears in interest.

"The system works simply as to Nano metal will form into whatever is placed within it. Although it is primarily design is to be used for my stun gun. Although instead it will reform it with the metal as an Emp-gun so it is best useful against robots and other enemies of such kinds. Although there is a drawback…" Red was about to explain to Elh who listened to Red's detailed description of how Red managed to gain such a useful ability for his own mech. Yet before he could get into detail the time had passed and they lied already on the fifth floor. Not too many guards have been seen past the second and third floor.

"I guess they are so busy searching for us in the lower deck they don't expect us to be able to get this high up…" Elh said while looking about. Seeming as if no one was here she dismounted from the Dahak. "Or maybe they want us to drink that." She suggested, narrowing her eyes to better examine the room, seeing that the door to the elevator was just down the end of the rather spacious room that stretched about to the length of about two hundred feet and nearly over one hundred feet in height. "Red can you…" She turned around, seeing Red was gone.

She looked over to see him walking over to the other elevator "You Idiot! You don't ever listen do you!" but all she was replied with was the loud metal footsteps as they stomped upon the ground. "Fine then if you won't listen then you can go on without me!" Elh called out before then Red quickly turned around. "Elh… run." He called out.

"What?" Elh stared confused as Red shouted again for her to quickly move, it was only till it was too late that Elh saw why red warned her. A rather large Mech, not a Grizzle for sure appeared before them, it was a violet like color that stood at nearly forty feet, the Mech stopped before them it's bulked up upper body carrying duel blaster cannon's that stuck out, along with the arms having claws similar to the grizzly design only with hands underneath. "I have my targets now!" The pilot of the mech yelled out. Elh was frozen in terror for a moment as it quickly pulled back, readying itself and charged strait for her. Red quickly reacted to this by thrusting Dahak's boost strait into the large mech as it was charging at Elh. "Elh run!" Red cried out again and this time Elh listened, running to the next floor.

"I'll get those files!" She called out before running up, entering and sealing the next lift. As it headed up to the next and final floor the mech turned to it "No you don't!" he said while gripping the Dahak, throwing Red across the room. He turned back to the lift readying his chest cannon's to firing them quickly. Red tried to reach him yet he already started to fire upon Elh who screamed in reaction trying to keep under cover. Red hearing Elh's screams caused him to go into a frenzy, he lifted up his sword even and pointed it to the mech. "Hey you!" he called out to the pilot, who turned to see Red firing the Emp blast at him. He quickly dodged it and growled softly.

"Vho the hell are you! Vhat do you want you troublesome… vait I know you! You're the trouble making brats vho destroy the Hindenburg last time!" The pilot undid the cockpit, exposing who he was, captain of the Hindenburg, Captain Grumpf… the purple caninu that had threatened the children of Basset and nearly did so, the one who once ran the ship the Hindenburg The one who he fought when Red first met Elh. The same lived and he smirked softly "Ahh Revenge is so sweet! Such a beautiful twist of faith, I would kill you and zhen be promoted a General to ze Blue Devils! Zhere be nothing better!" He then started to point his cannon's to Red, at least getting the fire off Elh who was defenseless. "Now die!" Grumpf roared out as he fired, blowing up anything in his way as Red tried dodged the blasts.

Red started to close in the distance between the revenge drunken caninu captain and himself as he raised the Dahak's blade and charged forward, about to strike before met with the sharp blade claws of the mech. "ha-ha fool ze metal made from ze clavs are to strong you von't be able to vin against me!" The captain then slashed forward, causing Red to dodge back. Their distance once more brought the captain to firing at him as Red was left in a helpless state.

"Damn it there is no way I can get close!" Red growled to himself as his focus kept to the blasts while Elh had managed to make it to the next floor. All Red needed to concern about was getting close to that crazy fool. "I can't blast him… he just dodges it… I need to get up close." Red was given little pause to think though as the energy blasts kept flying at him. Holes started to from in reaction and then Red got an idea.

The captain growled in anger as he fired on 'hold still!" he cried out as the blasts missed the Red caninu completely. Which Red then stopped and smirked "Okay hit me with your best shot!" Red called out and then the Purple caninu growled softly "Alright then take this! You little brat!" The chest cannons pointed to Red who smirked softly.

The next thing seen was Red being engulfed in the blast as the rather large energy shots fired through the ship's wall leaving nothing left in its place. The smoke started to settle and nothing remained as a whole from the blast formed through the ship floor. "Heheh…. Hahah! Take that you little brat thinking you can withstand my power!" He laughed in his victory and left his guard down.

Soon enough he opened his eyes from the heavy laughing, finding himself upside down as Red smirked while holding the giant Mech's leg from the ceiling. "Hey…" he said before then dropping the mech through the hole, which crashed down through the following floor. The next and next till at the bottom of the ship where the cargo laid as then a large explosion was heard signaling the captain's defeat. "Next time… make sure to look above you before declaring victory." Although he honestly didn't know if anyone would respond nor did he care right now as he ran over to the elevator which Elh had just came down from.

"So?" Red asked as Elh held the files, smiling lightly as she handed them to the caninu "I got them right here. They were unguarded but they are there." Red smirked softly as he let Elh climb up on into the Dahak. "Alright let's move now…"

Suddenly though just as he had said that the ship started to shake… the entire interior crumbling as it shook violently. Red looked to Elh who looked back, with fury in her eyes "What did you do while I was gone you moron!" she cried out as Red started to charge for the exit, jumping down the hole caused by the former captain's mech.

"I didn't do anything! It was that dude shooting about and then exploding when I defeated him it's not my fault he did that!" Red pleaded innocent to the Felineko's accusations while they dodged the falling ship pieces that came down atop them.

"Red? Elh? Are you two okay?" Called out from the communicator as Red placed it on once more. "Yes Chocolat its Red! Me and Elh are fine but the ship seems to be coming down! What's going on?" Red questioned his sister while trying to run for an exit, which got blocked off from the collapsing ship. "The ship is going down big time! There was a big explosion that must have weakened the already dangerous structure of the ships new design. You and Elh need to get out before the thing falls into the cloud sea!"

The ship was starting to tilt and Red soon was having to grip onto a nearby wall to climb up, trying to reach a nearby opening. "Hold on tight!" Red yelled out as Elh gripped tightly to him. The Dahak's boost was used once more, quickly flying them through the gap as they landed atop the side of the ship, having fully been turned over now. Red looked about trying to spot any sign of his sister, the ship falling to fast.

"Chocolat where are you! I can't see you!" Red was screaming into the communicator as Elh quickly turned behind them after hearing a loud bang. "Red!" She cried out before then Red turned to see pieces of the ships quick fixed hull started to break off, flying at them at rapid speeds. "Damn no time to dodge!" Red said quickly taking out the Nano blade as the pieces of metal flied at the pair.

Red quickly sliced through anything that stood in his way, showing off his sword expertise. Although Red tried the best he could the wreckage kept flying, bits of it getting through Red's defense and hitting the Dahak. "Chocolat!" Red yelled out for his sister, slowly seeing the growing ship in the distance as it closed in.

"I'm coming Red! You and Elh just hold on tight!" she said while piloting the ship around the explosive debris that flew around the duo. Red kept slicing through any threats before losing his focus as something had managed to slip through his defense, a small box of tools. As Red was knocked back, soon was a loud screech heard as the metal tore and then released the side of the cargo hold which many of the box's then started to fly at the Dahak "You got to be kidding me!" Red said nervously as they closed in. Just as they were about to collide with the Dahak though the Asmousdos swooped in, quickly Red jumped and gripped on the ship that was picking up the Dahak and its riders.

"We did it!" Red cheered out as he looked to Elh "Yea we did! She returned the cheer as they hung from the lower bars of the ships belly, still having the wind run through their forms. "Now then let see those files." Red smirked softly as he was offered them by Elh who had held on to them in the chaos. Red smiled widely and the then raised the files up high "Hahah! So much for being the best bandits in the world!" Red taunted as just then the Hindenburg exploded which caused a major shock wave to shake the ship. Red stumbled and released the flies that flew into the wind. All seemed lost but Red then quickly used Dahak's free arm to reach out for it, gripping it just at the edge. Elh sighed with relief, Red turning to her and stating "No worries!"

Just then though a single piece of the remains of the smoldering Hindenburg shoot through the air, flying quickly and going write through the flies, being perhaps nothing bigger than a small pebble but the heat it had was enough to cause the flies to burst into flames "oops…" Red muttered as they saw the ashes of the files burn up and flutter off into the breeze.

"You got to be kidding me!" Screamed Chocolat as Red and Elh stood shamefully hanging their heads. "I mean you nearly got killed today and you didn't even get the mission done! This is exactly like last time!" Chocolat cried out while then Red smiled nervously "N-now calm down sis… You do tend to get aggressive when you're mad…" he tried to ease his sister who was pulling out a wrench, fire burning in her eyes.

"Normally I let this slip by but after the events of you getting shot and this I have to at least beat some sense into that brain of yours!" She said lifting it up which Red quickly prepared to take before then a loud "Meowie!" was heard as a greeting from the leader of the Kurvaz. "Greetings my little trouble makers, It's good to see you got out alright I was almost starting to worry." Opera smiled softly, trying to look as young and beautiful as ever while she greeted the trio from their mission.

"U-uh hi Opera… it's good to see we made it out as well." Red chuckled abit nervously as he then tried to address the current problem "S-speaking of making it out about those files…" Opera was quick to state "Yes about them I need them as soon as you can… so quickly return because we can't stay here to long less those blue devil thugs scanners pick us up."

"Yea you see about that the files are kind of burnt" He slowly stepped up to Opera upon the big screen, making it look like he was cowering before a deity of some kind. Opera smiled softly "What was that?" Her smile remained calm although it caused red to tense up abit "W-Well you see we almost had them and then they just well… caught ablaze?" Red explained to the Felineko who nodded softly still keeping calm.

"Ahh well that's alright… only cost three months to find that data on the ship, Like we need it." Opera said, allowing Red to relax. "Phew that was Close I was worried you might…"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Opera screamed the flames of fury Red had seen in Elh now burnt bright within the Kurvaz leader. "We spent three months on that search and now we don't have anything to show for it! To top it off now we just got some more bad news…" Yet before Opera went on a solider came up to her, whispering something within her ear, the fury quickly vanishing on the Felineko's face.

"Y-you don't say…" Her face now filled with a sorrowful frown as she sighed. "Listen you idiots… I have bad news for you…" she said, the trio listening in with interest as the Felineko explained the story.

Meanwhile on the floating Junk Island on Basset…

The islands surface was nowhere to be seen as it was all but buried under an endless graveyard of ships. Although the place would seem uninhabitable the island was a great place for savaging and was more than enough reason for small pockets of civilization to appear upon it. The towns were often made from the remains of ships that were dug out and walkways allow people to travel as they pleased across the lands.

Although this place was mainly a town of Junkers and fisherman… an ideal place for corruption and propaganda against the Shepard government to fall into play as it was the only city without a mayor. Riots of angry mobs started to from about as they listened, surrounding a caninu male in a white jacket. The man had a half crooked grin and a slight twitch to him… his words were like poison, sliding into the wounds of weak-minded people who allow themselves to fall to his tongue. An Ideal agent of a revolution "Gather around quickly!" The man shouted as the crowd closed in around him, listening in silence. "I have gathered word that the military and government are falling into chaos! It is the word of the people they fear and as such they will do anything to keep it!" He cried out, the crowd in queue yelling, hollering with anger.

The man raised his left hand. The people fell silent. "As you may also know there was an uprising in 'our' city! The city where we were shown the true colors of our government as nothing more than Mayors in fancy suits… wilding away in their homes with the tax's they collect from you! Then a military that deserted you to doom before the creatures of darkness!" his words brought the crowd to anger, which he raised his hand again, the people went silent.

"Yes now as of this moment you must know that our attempt at taking control at the roots of this false republic failed! Not by the hands of no police officer or a martial law on them! Which sure the government would do if given the chance on us all! But no…" he paused for a moment… waiting till the people were all upon their edge to drive them further into listening. "It was none other than a hunter! A hunter that was for sure hired by the government! Which means that also that all hunters might be working with the government…" the man was about to go on before voices broke through the riots.

"Liars! Traitors! Money grubbing thugs! All the hunters should be punished!" The crowds many members started to shout with fury burning. "Now, now we must not attack those still innocent! Hunters are mainly tools by greedy men so do not blame them but those who run them against the people! The Hunter guilds! Even more so… The Kurvaz!" Although this started up mixed responses such as "No but they helped us!" Or "Traitors all of them!" yet the man raised both his hands now, demanding them to be silent at once.

"The Kurvaz were once loyal to the cause! They saved us when others fell and fought beside so many to destroy the evil giants and monsters! Yet all loyalty runs dry. May they be forgiven by the history writers who compose their sad fate! Now they have enlisted not only their souls to the evils of the government but also they have added another one as well! Do you wish to hear the name of the loyal government dog hunter?"

The question raised the crowds with roars of fury and anger! They demanded to know the name at once! Yet among the fury of the crowds a lone figure stood out among the rest. Its gaze was dark… the creature's gaze.

The creation had flown its way to the city of basset upon its metallic like wings. He had landed within the piles of waste and there he had used his interesting power. Reforming the scarped ships and metals into a new form with what some might call at first glance magic. The Metal was shaped into his form and placed upon him.

His features were all covered up by the armor so none may panic at his sight. All but his dark bluish eyes that seemed to have a lingering flare of anger and the dark aura that seemed to follow the 'creature' He had not intended to stay long but at the sight of a settlement he was more than interested on some reconnaissance.

Although his efforts within his own mind seemed to be wasted as nothing had turned up on his 'target'. He started to walk away till then the announcer spoke the words that drove the creature's desires.

"His name is Red Savarin!" the man cried out as the rioting public spat hatful comments above those that praised the hero. They knew much of Red through his title as a master of the duel ship arena. Besides why would one such as Red known to be free become a 'dog' of the government?

Yet reason was out matched by anger and deceit as men and women cried for Red's head. Yet while among the crowds the dark figure slowly trailed through, wanting to hear more.

"Yes! Yes! They were on to hire a dueling master! Another Prey of the military's indoctrination with the promise of false riches all for the expense of your life's and souls! Which is why it is time… for an act was committed that cannot be undone as they attacked a peaceful transport ship called the Hindenburg with none other than Red in command of the sinful assaults!" The deceitful man went on as the dark creature listened…

Finally the man went straight to the point, sighing softly "Let me tell you this… it is time we stop trying a peaceful manner! We will take each city one by one! It is time brothers and sisters! Rise up your arms and fight for upon this day the Kurvaz will pay and all will remember it as such! For now we go to…"

"War." Opera said as she raised a piece of paper. Sliding it across the metal table as Red sat on the other side for he was asked to come alone. "The blue devils have chosen to declare war upon the Kurvaz as I feared. Basset has been declared independent and the starting base for the 'rebel' forces. It has started…" Red taking up the flies while Opera explained, his eyes narrowed as he processed this.

"Why tell me? I'm just a hunter and I don't want to take place in a war that has nothing to do with my line of work or affects me." Red honestly admitted, ready to stand up before Opera wiped out another file "No it does."

Opera showed Red the file, a Picture of him along with Elh and Chocolat's. "The blue devils know how dangerous you are… they have set up bounties for you. Although you may not find this troubling I will say this, the price for your head is worth about half of the total Kurvaz fleet's worth. In other words you'll have every hunter and 'rebel' out for you. There is also no alive in that deal either." Opera slid that file forward to Red, who took it up. He looked over it and slowly gulped.

His face was much paler then when he was shot and nearly died, he muttered with a trembling whimper. "e-eight billon rings… they put eight billon rings on my head?" He took the 'wanted posted', reading it further. He ripped it apart in anger then threw it aside. "Gah! Not only that but they also are aiming for Elh and Chocolat! Why I will… I will…" Red pondered for a moment as Opera got up.

"Listen darling. War is not your thing and I can understand but you must listen to reason here. No one will defend you if you're attacked by surprise and it's better to have the Kurvaz on your side when facing against hunters, Assassins, and rebels. All I ask in return is that you assist in ending the war as soon as we can." Opera tried to reason with Red, who was still burning with anger.

He turned to Opera and barked out "It's your fault! If you had not contacted us into doing your fetching we might not be in this…" Red slowly widened his eyes, turning away with a heavy sigh. "Sorry Opera…" he muttered. The Felineko sighing as well.

"I can't blame you and I can't say sorry enough but you don't have much of a choice now. The past is the past and just because it was my fault doesn't mean they won't still go hunting for you. I ask you to stay here for your own protection." Opera once more tried to reason and at the same time comfort Red who with some regret nodded.

"I don't like the idea of hiding though. We need to stop these guys before they become a true problem. I'm not much for government issues though but I know bad people when I see them and so far nothing proves to be 'for the people' on their end." Red stated as he then started to head out of the room before Opera called out to him.

"We are heading to the duel ship right now. Currently there is said to be a prize involving the diplomatic matters of the Shepard Republic with its neighbors. The princess of Prairie as you might have met before shall be there. There are reports of Blue devils there as well so we won't have a choice in going. If we are to go to war we need to get as many allies and resources as we can or else this battle will go on longer then I like with many more deaths in the process." Opera explained to Red while she had gotten up and went through even more files. "This is also why we like you to fight in the duels as well Red." She added.

Red turned back and smiled softly "I guess I don't have too much of a choice. Alright! Let's go to the duel ship! It's been a while since I had a good match anyway!" Red's optimism was more than brightening for the Felineko who giggled softly.

Following with Red leaving though did she go from a soft smile to a worried, frightened shiver that coursed through her body? "I… I hope what we have gathered isn't true… or else we will all be in trouble…"

Red had met up with Elh and Chocolat in a dining area of the ship, settling down to eat and rest. Red also explained on the matter of the bounty which caused Chocolat to spit out her water in reaction "Eight billon!" She cried out, getting the attention of nearly half the crew who were also eating.

"Chocolat calm down your drawing a scene." Red calmed his sister who sat back down and relaxed. "Okay so I guess we are working with the Kurvaz again only this time to save the government. How do we end in these situations?" She sighed softly. Meanwhile Elh was quietly eating her food having been silent for a while now.

"Yes and no. We are not fighting 'for' the government. We are simply ending the war quickly before any more innocence people are hurt. Right now we are heading to the Duel ship on some sort of diplomatic mission. I'll be fighting to win the prize which I think is some meeting with the princess of Prairie." Red went on explaining with Chocolat primarily listening to him while Elh kept silent.

Red then started to chuckle "It's a good this I know her already! She's a very nice person and seems to like me very well! Heck maybe I won't even have to fight if I just put on some charm." Red busted into laughter as he was simply making a joke Chocolat giggled abit as well even. Meanwhile Elh set down her cup, turning to Red with a soft smile.

"Red?" She asked. Red turned to her with a raised brow "Yes Elh?" he asked while leaning in. "Come over here." Elh ordered. Normally Red would ask why but he did so without thinking, sitting right beside her.

"Now then you were saying about charming the princess right?" she asked while leaning in closer which caused Red to tense up abit. "Y-yes but that was just a joke. You know to be funny?" He responded while leaning back abit. "Well even so I do have to say one thing about that." Smiling sweetly as she kicked forward. A loud painful bell like sound echoed throughout the room as then Elh stood up and walked away muttering "Moron."

Red on the other hand held his hands below, tears streaming from his eyes as he whimpered loudly. With Chocolat sighing softly "W-well looks like still nothing has changed." Chocolat smiled softly, petting the back of red's head to comfort the Caninu in intense pain.

"As of that moment the heroes had come together once more"

"Although little did they know that their world was in more danger then they ever expect."

"For in the shadows of the enemies lied a new monster"

"A New begin of destruction"

Meanwhile back at basset among the rebels laid a base that held high the flag of the Blue Devils.

"So how many men are we going to send to the duel ship?" asked the same man that just that day was inciting the people into revolt. He was answered by a Felineko who walked beside him down the long dirty hallways. "About seven have proven to be the best fighters we have. We have them fighting fight now to choose who be sent as our 'diplomat'. We should be coming upon them now." The man said while slowly opening up the door. The two walked in and had their jaws drop at what they beheld.

"Among these weaklings I have stood strong." Said the dark creature whose fury eyes faced the two lesser men. The dark figure seemed to be unharmed as he stood atop the wreckage of the robots below him, He himself not even having a mech.

Once the men had totally processed this the deceitful man who the creature had listen to before yelled out "Who the hell are you! What are you doing here! How did you do this?" he asked although the creature seemed more annoyed. He jumped down and faced the two cowards of men as he stated "I'm here for the job of hunting Red savarin. These men got in my way so I destroyed them." The creatures words were hallow… without emotion which only caused the two to shiver.

The Felineko solider reached for a gun and placed it against the creatures chest "I don't care who the hell you are bu..." was all he could get out before then the two half's of him fell apart on either side. The creature kicked away the one that was closes which slid over to the man in white screamed at the sight "O-Okay doesn't do anything rash! Y-you want to hunt Red then so be it!" he cried out as if trying to barging information with his life.

The creature seemed to simply not care of most of what the deceitful man had said he then stated. "The men I killed spoke of a duel ship. I assume Red shall be there as he is not one to shy from a challenge. Place your banner upon me worm I shall go as your 'fighter' So long as I get Red's head I care little." The creature then walked past the man in white down to the hall. After a few moments the man slowly started to smile "Y-yes indeed. He will surely be there. Tomorrow morning we will depart for the duel ship! Till then feel free to make yourself at home!" the pitiful man called out to the creature that departed down the hall.

The creature only was focused on what was to come, Red was to be there… in his grasp by tomorrow. "Red Savarin, I can't wait to see you in battle." He said with a dark grin, fists clenching up with tension. "And I can't wait to see your blood cover my body…" the creature chuckled to himself as he vanished into the dark bowels of the rebel base.

"This is where our story begins…"


	3. Duel of destiny

Chapter 3: Duel of destiny 

The illuminating glow of the full moon shined down upon all beneath its natural beauty. The cool midnight breeze carried along the snow white clouds that traveled carefree through the midnight sky. Among these natural wonders, a sparking light appeared; the moon shining off the hull of the beautiful yet non-natural creation. This golden man-made (Or manlike-made) creation soared through the air to join the clouds among their grand heights in the midnight sky. The vessel, that matched a collection of flying temples, was named the "Golden Roar".

The silence of night was broken by the soft humming of engines that worked in keeping the ship afloat and carving through the strong winds. All knew that the Gold Roar was a sign of the Kurvaz's power and wealth as it flew proudly among the clouds.

Although the beauty of the ship's extorter remained the same; the interior was filled with tension. The tension thickened the air with the whispers of war that lied upon ever soul's lips. Some handled the stress well; others had trouble sleeping at night. Yet among them there was one who felt the greatest of stress.

Within the lower decks of the Golden Roar, among the light humming of the ship's engines was a voice that slowly muttered in the darkness. This voice belonging to a male whose tone seemed to hint at anger, sorrow, and exhaustion (Mostly exhaustion though), "One nom-bone, two nom-bones, three nom-bones…" The voice counted restlessly.

His eyes were shut tight as if attempting to force himself to sleep. "Four nom-bones, five nom-bones," His eyes shifting behind closed lids that exposed his struggle to rest, "Thirty nom-bones, thirty one nom-bones…" he carried on as time seemed to slow around him.

The midnight wind started to pick up outside, grazing over the large hull of the ship. "Thirty seven nom-bones, thirty nine nom… wait… Furballs…" He started over again. Sadly though, the outside wind was too strong and the porthole that let in the midnight glow of the moon swung open from the force of the wind. The room flooded with cold air and the loud sounds of wind gushing through the opening had fully awoken the poor male.

He got up from the bedding and stumbled on over to the window "Gah, Furballs! Just when I started feeling tired it happens again!" he reached in just as the moonlight exposed the male for who he was, Red Savarin, robot riding hunter of Shepherd.

Red pressed hard on the porthole window, pushing against the strong wind as he struggled to close it. With a large snap the window was back in place and this time Red was not going to be content with just that. He took out a roll of duct tape and placed it over the window to keep it from ever reopening against the wind.

With his handy work done and a porthole almost completely covered with duct tape (In Red's Zeal) Red fell silent. For a minute he stood still in the pale moonlight that made it through the cracks of silver till he sighed "I'm never going to get any sleep at this rate!" he complained to himself.

With his current discouragement Red tried to head back to the bed he lied in earlier. Yet, without the light of the moon to guide him now, he couldn't help but slip upon a pool of liquid. "Gah Ahh!" Red cried out in a shock before the back of his head came down with a loud thud against the wooden floor.

"Ow…Ow…. Ow" muttered Red as he rubbed the bump that formed from the blow. After a little struggle to get back on his feet from the bruising blow to the back of his head, Red lean up against a nearby wall and ran his hand over it in search of a light.

Once the light was flicked on the room was exposed as being that of little more than a supply closet. The pool of liquid he had stepped in was little more than cleaning soap. Although the other items in the room were rancid with chemicals that burned the Caninu's nose. It had even worsened due to the wind blowing in and rising their heavy scents back up into the air.

Holding his nose and feeling the bruise upon the back of his head, Red returned to his makeshift bedding that was composed of a few old sheets and some pillows; all seemed as if they needed to be washed. Red sat down atop it and sighed. With no way to sleep at this point his mind started to drift back in time to how he got caught in this situation.

Three days ago Red, His sister Chocolat, and his close friend Elh were assigned a mission by the largest hunter guild in Shepard, The Kurvaz. As such they took the job with little hesitation and went off to the Hindenburg 2.0 to capture secret files.

Sadly though their mission was a failure and to add insult to injury, the organization known as "Blue Devils" has placed a high bounty on the group, alongside declaring a guild war upon the Kurvaz by proclaiming them as government oppressors. Opera offered up protection to Red and the others seeing it was her fault that they were caught up in this mess and after a little of smooth talking Red accepted it.

Red wanted to remain independent as best he could from the Kurvaz and didn't agree to sleep on the Golden Roar, but as Red later learned they were planning to upgrade his ship, "The Asmodeus" with 'weapons'. Red sighed at this thought. Begin as such the only place left for Red to feel at ease on the Golden Roar was somewhere away from their main barracks. So his 'independence' gained him a dark, ill smelling, and damp supplies room.

Red's fist clenched tightly as he went through his thoughts. He understood he was angry but he was starting to take it out on others. The exhausted caninu was void of cheerfulness due to all that had happened. It was against his common character. "Idiot…" he muttered to himself as the thoughts traced back to when he took the job… "If I didn't take it… We wouldn't be caught in this mess…" Red clenched his fist tighter as he quickly slammed it against the wall; a small drop of blood dripping from it.

Red even feared that his exhaustion and growing anger would cause him to lash out at those he cared for most. In such fears he started to isolate himself from others and remained in the lab to do simulations or work with Merveille on the Dahak's systems.

Red eventually brought himself back to the present where the pain of his bleeding hand brought his attention to it. Wrapping up the bleeding fist with a small first aid kit that was inside the supplies closet; He lied back down on the makeshift bed and tried once more to sleep after turning off the light.

Red's body started to relax against the bed and he started to feel tired once more. Before long his body finally couldn't withstand the exhaustion and Red had drifted off to sleep.

Hours pass…

Dawn began with an orange sunrise that brought the signals of a new day approaching to all. The clouds ease their pace as the midnight winds dimmed down and a calm ride was for all to enjoy. That is if they could feel such things as joy.

Traveling in the direction of the sunrise was a black, rusted, and decrepit ship that flew through the clouds. A Small banner waved along the sides of the ship's hull as to show who it belonged to. It was a blue flame, meaning one thing, Blue Devils.

Within the small frigate ship there was no crew other than a single being. The dark interior of the ship made it roughly hard to see the male as he issued controls to the ship. "Four hours till target is reached." The programmed computer stated through a speaker system throughout the small ship.

"Red…" a sinister voice broke through the silent darkness of the ship, Piercing crimson eyes that belonged to the voice's owner stared down at a single picture… a wanted poster on Red's head that was issued by the Blue Devils. "… My target is in reach now. I just need to…" he was quickly cut off by the loud static sound of a monitor as a signal came in.

On the monitor appeared the familiar male of which he had asked to lead him to Savarin, The same feline whose vile words corrupted the minds of the people in his favor. "Greetings!" He started,"I hope your ride wasn't too rough. I do hope that you're heading straight to the duel ship as we agreed." The male spoke with atongue that could charm a snake. The creature's eyes shifted down to the monitor and then back ahead to the rising sun.

"Eh? So you still going to keep the silent treatment?!" The man said in annoyance."Well that doesn't matter to me so long as you managed to get the prize. In return you get to take Red and the reward money so it's all fair!" the unwise man stated as if he had an upper hand over the creature. The creature remained silent as the man carried on about 'their' geniuses and his 'skill' even though it seemed the man enjoyed flattering himself more than the creature; although he cared little all the same.

Finally the creature broke the rant of the man by stating "I have no intention of taking the bounty on Red. I want only him and will do as I please with him. You'll only get your prize from this little game because Red will be in it." He leaned in as the monitors light exposed the dark metal armor plating on the creatures face. It was clear that he was a caninu from the construction of the armor plating. "And if you value your life you will not bother to speak to me again once I have finished with my job." The creature's voice was cold and intimidating among all other vile things.

The man quickly withdrew the majority of his ranting but did manage to state one final thing to seem superior before frantically ending the call "Just get it done! We do have big plans and we can't mess this up!" Once the man was gone and the ship was once more quiet the creature slowly closed his eyes and whispered "Beasts like them… nothing to do but talk their prey to death. They are fools the lot of them. As if they could ever understa-".The male was caught off as the computer stated "Starting to close in on the destination. Duel ship will be reached in three hours"

The creature smirked softly, white, sharp, chilling teeth he exposed as they flew closer to the duel ship…

…And Red…

Around the same time the sun had already peaked and now started to hang higher in the sky with each passing minute. Back aboard the Gold Roar speakers started the sound off in the upper decks of the ship. This issued the time of day which the men were to address the leader of the Kurvaz; as such the men formed long line formations that face each other. The instructor was none other than Gren, who beside him was Calua. Calua yawned and stumbled over to lean on Gren "Dude…. Why do we have to get up so early…?"

Gren looked down to Calua with an irritated sigh as he stepped away from the Felineko who was now without support and fell face first to the ground. "Because Lady Opera demands that we shape up our drills to prepare for the upcoming war." He quickly turned to face the Felineko "Are you saying sleep is more important than…" he stopped when finding Calua snoring loudly on the ground, fast asleep.

Gren sighed softly and leaned over Calua, tapping his head softly. "Hey… wake up air head… come on…" Gren tried to awaken Calua peacefully. Gren failed though and choose to deal with the mess his own favorite way; with a forceful kick to the side.

Calua was quickly awaken and struggling to get up. "H-hey! What you do that for dude!" he shouted out in a panic. Finally getting up, Calua faced Gren who shrugged softly and replied with "Sleeping on the job is one thing we can't afford these days. Understand that Calua… for Lady Opera." Before Calua could snap back with a little sass, the sounds of drums beating as the men saluted. Gren and Calua quickly got into positions as the leading men who would first greet Opera.

Slowly the door that leads to the office where Opera's room now lied was sliding open. "Everyone bow your Heads with respect!" Gren issued out as the men faced to the doorway. "Good Morning, My Lady." Gren stated with his head held down as he instructed the others. Calua followed suit in a sloppy. "Good morning, my lady!" Following suit with every man in the company of Kurvaz troops stating at once "Good morning, My Lady!"

Gren raised his head then with a smile, in hopes that Lady Opera would have been pleased. What he found instead were two rather confused young women who stared at the massed men who had just greeted them. One of these 'younger' looking women was a Felineko; purple like the mistress Opera but without any form of relations. The other was a pink Caninu.

The caninu slowly raised her hand and waved kindly "Hello everyone! Such a nice greeting from all of you…" Felineko turned away with a soft blush on her face from embarrassment of her friend. "Chocolat I don't think they were meant to be greeting you." Chocolat turned back to the Felineko and tilted her head "Really? Are you sure Elh? They seemed determined on the greeting."

Elh nodded softly as she pointed to Gren, who was at the time wide eyed and mouth left agape (Along with everyone in the company behind him). "The look upon his face is all the proof you need." Elh stated as she and Chocolat started to walk along the path that was lined with Kurvaz troopers. Each one of them staring silently, holding their tongues in embarrassment by the event.

As all were faced at the two walking off into another doorway that led down to the lower part of the ship Opera had slipped over to Gren and asked "My, My? Is there something I missed? Why is everyone out here at this time?"

With her consisting questions Gren had snapped back to the present and faced his lady. "Oh! Lady Opera! Forgive me but we had mistaken those two for you. We planned to greet you in such an organized manner to show how well we were when the war would start heating up."

Opera just simply smiled at Gren and chuckled "Darlings like you all should not waist so much energy on me! A woman can only handle so much!" she jests to them all with another giggle. "Although all of you I thank greatly but please go back to your posts and relax because after today I don't honestly know when we will be able to relax."

Given the order from their leader the troops disbanded back across the ship. In the End leaving Gren a little pink faced with Calua laughing loudly. "Dude you totally screwed up!" his laughter carried on and Opera couldn't help but giggle herself. "Now, Now, Play nice you two! I rather not have a fight start right now. We need to prepare for today anyway." Opera shifted her gaze around the opened area of the ship and then asked "Where did those two little ones head off to anyway?"

Calua quickly pointed over to the doorway that the two had departed to. Once done Calua stated "Those two gals headed down in there to find Red I take it! Shame he hasn't been around too much though. I like to brawl with him some more cause he is a fun dude!"

Opera being quick, responded with a sigh. "The muffin has been a little stale lately. It seems he has been bothered by something and it is ripping him up inside. I guess… it is because I dragged him into this." She turned away and started to walk back to the office. "Gren have Red ready by noon. The Duel ship is just ahead and I don't plan to let this advantage slip up like the last." Her tone was serious, a little bossy as well.

Gren nodded "Yes Lady Opera. It shall be done." Gren went off to the same doorway that Chocolat and Elh also had gone through. This left Calua and Opera alone with each other. Calua slowly looked over to Opera, asking "Lady Opera. Can I Ask you something?" his eyes shifted downward, head hanging a little. Opera remained silent as she grasped hold of the panel of her doorway. "What is it dearie?" she answered his question with her own, not facing him though.

"I wanted to ask… if you're feeling it as well. A sense of danger that is lurking closer to us as we move in, Lady Opera… I'm feeling as if we should not go, as if a pain in my chest is grasping me and keeping me from breathing." Calua, serious, unlike himself, in every manner it was almost a pitiful thing to see.

Opera slowly turned around and smiled softly "Darling! Come now you are just over thinking things. I'm sure everything will be okay!" her words seemed like reassure to Calua as he smiled and nodded "You're right Lady Opera! Thanks for your help!"

Opera nodded and slowly closed her door to the office and was left alone. She moved her hand over her chest and slowly sighed. "I feel it as well… but I have to be strong," she told herself before returning to her workplace, "For everyone this time."

Red slowly awoke from his rest to be greeted by a blue, cloudless sky. He smiled softly "What a beautiful day…" shutting his eyes and sighing peaceful. "Wait a minute!" he shouted before then springing up. Red examined his location. Standing in the middle of a colorful valley of flowers Red watched silently as the wind blew across the long fields of color.

What sort of trick had been played on his eye? He started rubbing them but no change in his surroundings.

He muttered to himself "I think I've inhaled too many of those chemicals. They must be screwing up my head!" Viewing the colorful flowers as they carried on upon the endless landscape, they differed in colors from white, to yellow, to blue, to purple and so on; all beautiful independently yet complementing one another. It was like art for the eyes that you could feel.

Red had been on edge and his sense were still sharp. The soft scent of another was on the wind, close. "Looks like someone is…" Red stopped himself as he heard a small giggle behind him. He quickly turned around to find none other than…"Elh?!"

Elh stood calmly before Red, although she seemed different. Her eyes were serene and her postures were more feministic then normally. Red had only seen this once before and that was within the forest of Samoyede where they had been sent to collect white flowers for a women and her deceased Boyfriend. Something about this made Red blush and a soft clench was felt at his chest. Why did he enjoy seeing Elh so relaxed, so beautiful?

"Hello?" Elh asked while waving her hand in front of Red, pulling him out of his daze. "Oh? Huh? what?" Red asked while looking back to Elh.

Elh returned Red's gaze with a soft smile "Come now. Don't tell me you're losing even more of that unused brain." She teased just as she would in their average conversations.

"Hey! That's not it at all! I was uh… hey wait! Do you know how we got here Elh?" He asked while looking around. Elh responded with a sorrowful sigh. "Not honestly, no. Although," she turned to face the flower beds, "I have to admit that this place is rather relaxing don't you think?"

Red smiled softly as he looked down at the flowers beneath their feet. "It is beautiful. I really do enjoy seeing these flowers! I mean they make people happy so they can't be that bad!" Red's gaze turned back to Elh to find her holding a rose; although to Red the flower was exotic for it was a trace of the old earth; Not the new one that they inhabited.

Elh held up the rose "Sometimes Flowers don't bring happiness though. Sometimes they are meant to symbolize pain, grief, and even sorrow. Besides they wilt so their beauty never lasts." Elh sighed softly before then stepping closer to Red. Red eyes went from soft warmth to a slight sorrow "True…" he admitted while lowering his head a little, "… They wilt and nothing can be done about it." Red then noticed the stem of the Rose, its thorns sharp and soft blood dripping from the stem as it fell to the ground below. "Hey Elh… I think you cut-"

Everything turned red around where the drops of blood fell; the ground soon turning fully red then as much blood fell onto the ground. For a split second Elh stood before Red. She wore a soft smile, the same one Red had grown to enjoy but something felt different. Red couldn't speak, life draining from him, as if he just couldn't… "Forgive me Red" Elh spoke. Red was confused, he tried to ask what she meant but the words didn't form; Just a gurgling like sound. Red understood now as he looked down, a piercing long blade that had appeared from the rose pedals pierced straight through Red's heart.

Red started to understand the ends. Yet the means remained unknown as he looked to Elh with a sorrowful and confused gaze. His eyes watered and started to stream down his cheeks, tears running down before he coughed. His hand grasped his muzzle and blood stained his lips and hands. His own crimson blood leaking from him and Red soon started to feel the world fade as he fell back.

With a heavy thud Red was looking up to the blue sky that started to turn a blackish grey. Red's gaze shifting towards Elh who looked back at Red, but her expression turned cold and lifeless. She stepped forward to him, tugging the blade out of Red's chest, numb now to the pain and placing it against his muzzle.

Red's world growing dark each second as he tried to mutter out "W-hy…" but only coughed up more blood. Elh finally spoke to Red only her tone was as lifeless as her expressions "Wake up Red, Its time you see the truth…" the words 'wake up' echoed over and over as the loud slash of Elh's blade slashed into Red.

"Wake up Red…"

"You're going to be late…"

"You're always to late…"

"No!" Red quickly sat up, panting once more as he held his forehead, he was sweating, scared, throbbing in pain, and when he looked up he found himself gazing at Elh who was holding her forehead as well.

"E-Elh?" Red started to ask before then getting smashed over the head by the Feline's fist with full force "Idiot! Why are you such a moron?" She called out as a fury burned in her eyes.

"OW!" Red yelped as he looked back up to Elh while rubbing his now growing bump. "Hey what the fur was that for!" Red asked.

"You were startled and you slammed your forehead up against Elh's." Chocolat stated as she stood on the other side of the Bed.

Red turned to his sister and then back to Elh "Oops! Sorry!" Red smirked before then rubbing his eyes of sleep. With a soft yawn he then asked "So what's going on? Did something happen?" while then getting out of his bed and stretching his aching body. His eyes were still full of sleep yet he kept rubbing to try and awaken himself.

Elh didn't respond to the questions at first. She seemed as if she was trying to remember the answers as well. Perhaps the blow to her head was harder then she thought "Give me a second to think. After all getting knocked with a head as hard as your own is perhaps the strongest attack you have." The insult made Chocolat giggle even though she wasn't always one to enjoy Red being picked on (Less she is doing it).

"We came in to get you." The pink caninu answered her brother's questions "We are going to be reaching the duel ship within an hour or so." Chocolat's voice remained cheerful, yet as if she was struggling to make the feeling of joy last among her friends.

Red sighed softly as he fell back into the present, "Already huh? Well looks like it can't be helped." Red's gaze shift to the others "Looks like I'm going to go out all this time. I can't let anyone beat me. I am the best duel ship fighter after all!" this lightened up Elh and Chocolat to see Red acting like himself.

Just then though Gren appeared at the doorway "Come now. Get yourself descent, Lady Opera wishes to speak with you before we arrive." Gren's tone was as cold and disciplined as ever. "Also please refrain from your normal stupidity. You already ruined that last mission we assigned you and I prefer that you don't hinder our war effort any further."

Red gave an annoyed stare as Gren motioned to leave, only stopping for a moment and turn to face Red with an equally annoyed stare. "What? You want to fight now?" Red asked as Gren then stepped forward.

Red would not have picked a fight without reason. He might not have thought it through but for sure he wouldn't just pick a fight with an ally like Gren. It was just though that Red was angry still; At Gren, Opera, Caulca, and himself. This pent up anger having to escape through the glare in Red's blue eyes.

Elh and Chocolat ready themselves to stop a fight before it broke out. "Red. Calm down." Chocolat asked of her brother who wouldn't ease his tensed body, fur rose up along his form. Gren seemed slightly calmer then Red, although his eyes showed the same amount of pent of rage. "You really are a fool." Gren stated. Red's eyes widen abit "What?"

"You're a fool, taking your anger and placing it on your friends like that. You are hurting those you desire to protect and as such you are a fool and a hypocrite. I don't fight Hypocrites. I only bother with those who are honorable enough to understand what is important." Gren turned and walked out of the room, stating one more thing as he left "Take that anger you feel. Place it on the enemies' forces. Use that anger to your victory and win back peace." Upon that Gren turned and walked out of sight.

Red having been scowled like he was a young child eased back, his body relaxing now. He was angry but it was a silent anger that was fading out. Among them Gren was able to cool the fire that burned in Red's emotions. Elh and Chocolat looked to Red still concerned about him but slowly he smiled "Well furballs. Looks like I just got told off. Only thing I can think now is getting up to the deck and get ready for the duels. I'll show him then who's a fool!"

Elh nodded "It will be tough. The Blue Devils will not give up the chance to secure support from a princess so easy." Stating her thoughts, a slight amount of concern hinting on her voice; Red of course being oblivious to it while Chocolat picked it up and smiled softly and spoke as if to ease Elh's concerns "I'm sure you'll do well. Please be careful Red."

Red replied with another smile as he got shoes and strapped on his cap. ; stating "I will be careful and I will win!" The confidence was strong in the voice of the mutt as he started to step out of the room and running up the stairs while being followed by his sister and feline friend, Red was ready for every challenge that he would face today….

Or so he thought…

Red was already departing for the Duel ship in The Royal Envy, ship used by the Kurvaz special ops, that was meant to carry Dahak along with Calua, Gren, Elh, Opera, and Chocolat and also their robots, expect the girls that had known or they were to big. "We shouldn't need too much man power. Besides with a small force the Blue Devils would be less likely to try and ambush us." Opera had explained earlier in the meeting that they all had.

Red remained silent throughout most of the half hour ride. He seemed tired regardless of his upbeat attitude. Everyone wondered if he was falling back into a depression so the first to ask if Red was okay was… "Hey," the feline tapped Red's shoulder which he faced. It was Elh, "What are you being so silent for? You were pumped out a few minutes ago. Please don't tell me you are getting worked up again? "

Red remained quiet for a few moments before smiling, "I still have my spirit but I'm exhausted!" he closed his eyes and didn't notice how everyone was a little surprised at the Caninu's answer.

Opera then giggled from group, "Well if that is the case puppy boy then you take a little nap. I think with a little sweet talk…" she paused and moved a hand to her chest, "And some tempting…" she started unzipping the top of her suit. Which Gren shouted with a flushed face, "L-Lady Opera!" but it was too late.

She pulled out a string of rings from the opening she made in her suit. Upon the string was quite abit of money. She zipped the crack of her suit back up quickly and smiled at Gren, "Was there something wrong?" Gren froze for a moment and looked away with embarrassment and somewhat disappointment.

Opera held the money and stated, "I can convince the duel manger to withhold your fight to be the last fight of each round. That way you can get a few winks alright?" and Red didn't show any signs of refusal at the offer of more sleep. "You got a deal."

Opera smirked, "There we go." She looked at the computer screen and nodded, "We land in a few minutes so all you darlings get ready. There isn't any stopping or turning back now!" With that the ship pulled up near the Duel Ship and the doors opened. They stepped into the light and heard the cheers.

The day was nearly clear of clouds and so it was a little hotter than normal. Many people from around the Shepard republic had come to see this battle as the deck was almost overcrowded. Lucky for the group though had a reserved area of which they could bring their robots down to gear up and get ready.

Red moved out into the sunlight last and the glare of the sun caught his eyes, "Man it is bright…" he muttered to himself. Elh beside him gave a light smile and took a deep breath, "The air seems tense but I feel hope here. People are here to cheer us on so we can't let them down."

Red was a little surprised to see Elh so cheered in such a situation but someone had to be if Red wasn't. He smiled and turned to her, "Thank you." He said in a gentle tone. Elh met Red's blue eyes and felt a tint of blush on her cheeks as he thanked her. "What for?" she questioned him.

Red smiled wide and laughed, "For enduring with me being so down. Kind of reminds me of the time I tried to talk to you when you were upset."  
>"Yes," Elh started with a smile, "And you are welcome."<p>

"Are you two lovers done kissing and cuddling now?!" called out Opera who caused Red and Elh to turn red quickly. Taking that as an answer Opera giggled, "Now then I'll talk to the officials of the ship and while I'm doing that I need you to get some rest Red. We will wake you about ten minutes before your fight."

Red gave a nod and turned to Elh while still feeling a little embarrassed, "I'll see you in a little while. Don't forget to cheer for me." He gave her thumbs up and walked away. Elh nodded and wanted to say something but stopped. She froze and once Red was out of her sight she sighed and walked off to the stands with Chocolat who was alongside her. "Good Luck." She muttered to herself while taking her seat.

Opera had watched the whole thing and was giggling to herself while unaware of the presence of another behind her, "Lady Opera, Do you enjoy teasing them like that?" Gren questioned in his serious tone as always. "Yes, they are both headstrong and brave but become weak and insecure when they are addressed to how they feel about each other. It doesn't hurt to push a little." Opera tried to reason but Gren seemed to not be amused, "Their feelings have little to do with the mission and teasing them will only cloud their judgment for the battles ahead. You know this…" Gren warned.

Opera turned around and smirked, "Oh so in order to do our mission we have to abandon all emotion?" She faced Gren as if already confident she had won.

"I wasn't suggesting long-term but clearing the mind and remaining calm is much better than allowing yourself to be distracted by emotions that hinder your progress." Gren stated, keeping calm and confident as ever. Just then he felt a rub along his left leg which caused him to blush bright red.

It was Opera's tail.

"Lady Opera… W-what are you doing!" he asked while trying to remain calm.

Opera just smiled and removed her tail and walked off, "If they are so hindering then why are you flushed? Seems more encouraged then discouraged!" she teased and walked down a stairway that would lead to the lower decks of the ship, "Come now. The match starts in ten minutes." Opera stated with Gren limping behind awkwardly from the teasing, muttering "Y-You are so difficult at times Lady Opera."

While the 'interesting' conversations between our heroes unfolded in the upper decks, lower in the preparation rooms was a certain vile sensation in the air. The creature had made its way onto the duel ship an hour before Red and the others and had been told to wait. The creature was still dressed in a black flexible like metal armor which covered most of his characteristics.

The creature was not one to sit and wait but without any choice he sat there in an agitated silence while awaiting the battles to start. Suddenly the door to chamber opened and the creature quickly glanced over to see a large elderly like male Felineko. He turned away again, uninterested in this general character.

The older male didn't seem to take the hint as his first action in the room was to walk right over to the creature and ask, "Hey is this chamber 3?" To which the creature remained silent at first.

The Old male still took no hint to the creatures resolve to not speak and pressed further, "You deaf boy? Come now, is this chamber 3?"

Despite the creature desiring not to interact with the Elder, He didn't have much choice.

Finally the creature spoke out, giving nasty toned response, "Yes." To which the Elder male responded with a smile, "There we go… just need to speak up and I would have left you be." The Elder man went over and took a seat on the far side of the room.

The creature looked at the male with a somewhat questioning stare, "What are you doing?" The creatures tone remained negative towards the elder.

"I'm here because this is my chamber. I take it you got the same one huh? Guess the duel ship needs more space." The Elder shrugged during his response. "So what is your name?" He asked.

The creature paused for a moment to ponder the question before looking at the Elder. "Azul, My name is Azul Ordinateur." Azul stated as his response.

"Interesting name, I'm Québec." Replied the elder who leanedforward and coughed a little, "So Azul, what are you doing here?"

Azul responded swiftly, "Something that does not concern you old man."

"Old?" Québec replied with a brow raised, "Hehe, I'm not that old 'boy' and I'm sure I can handle you in the ring just fine."

Azul was not moved by the statement and fell back into his silence. Québec remained silent as well and looked over to the doorway. It was only a minute or two before Québec asked in order to break the silence, "You are working for the Blue Devils aren't you?"

Azul looked to the older male and nodded, "Yes, I take it you are here for another faction as well?"

Québec grinned, "Yep, that faction is just me. I plan to spend the day with that lovely young princess even if it kills me!" the burning desire within his eyes was admiring (If not also a little creepy…).

Azul fell silent again, finding little reason to speak now. Québec was about to speak more about his love for the ladies, but before he could the only doorway into the chamber opened and in stepped a caninu women that was very professionally, "Azul you are up." Azul quickly stood up and made way to follow the women.

As Azul was leaving Québec stated, "Good luck and win! I want to show you what this 'old' man can do!" Azul looked back, kind of annoyed. Once he was out of the room his face went from a blank announce to a dark glare, "Soon…." Azul stated softly to himself as he went down the hallway that led to the battle ring…

A few minutes earlier…

With only ten minutes before the match, Red was resting his head upon the back of a chair, snoring softly. Calua was playfully touching over Gren's robot, Mephisto, and breaking a piece of metal off. Calua panicked and tried to place it back on but it didn't seem to be working. "Lady Opera I still think your making a mistake." Gren stated from the hallway outside of the entrance to chamber 1. Calua nearly yelped at Gren's voice and threw the piece into the air.

Gren and Opera came inside the room soon after and looked at Calua who had his hands behind his back. "Is something wrong dearie?" Opera asked.

Calua shook his head, "Nothing at all Lady Opera. Everything is fine." The odd behaviors made Gren raise a brow, "Mind showing us what you have behind you?"

At first Calua seemed a little hesitant but he chose to show them what he held was nothing. Calua had nothing in either of his paws and so Gren dropped his curiosity. Calua sighed with relief and gave a glance up to see the metal piece stuck in the roof after he threw it up in fear of being caught. "Uh, anyway do you know who is going into the first fight?" Calua questioned.

Opera thought over it, "There were too many fighters for the duel ship to fully handle the fights. So the ship made a few rules for today's fights. Only professional fighters are allowed and that means no cannon fodder between us and the Blue devils on claiming the prize. Factions are only permitted three individual fighters to fight for their side. Once all three fighters have been defeated is the faction removed from the claim to the prize. So all we have to do is defeat all the blue devil fighters and the prize will be as good as ours." Opera turned her gaze to Red who was still resting before turning back to Gren and Calua, "The pup there may not even be needed if you two can defeat them."

Gren looked to Red and raised a brow, "Well then let us hope that he isn't needed. The last thing I want is another boast from a hothead like him." Gren turned his gaze to Calua, "Then again I prefer you not be the main victor either. Both ideas have a bitter taste in my mouth."

Calua pouted, "Aww dude! That is mean!" he looked to Opera and smiled, "Ah well I guess you want to win the most simply because Lady Opera would give you a kiss if you did!" Upon these words Gren's face flushed and lashed out a strike over Calua's head, causing a bump to form.

"Ow! Dude that hurt!" cried the ocelot while rubbing his head and looking at Gren, Who still had an anger burning in his eyes, "It is what you deserve. Your void of a head shouldn't say such indecent things like that!"

Opera giggled and moved in between the two, placing both of her hands on the males' chests. "Now, now," she started, "Save your energy for our foes." She giggled and released the two. They knew their loyalty to the lady and both turned away from each other to sulk in silence.

Just at that moment a Caninu women came into through the single doorway and stated, "Calua, you are up." And with that she left the room to go about rounding up the other dueler.

Calua walked to the doorway and smiled while looking back, "Don't worry Lady Opera. I'll be sure to beat down those dudes. I can't let Red Dude or Mr. Grumpy Dude over there," he pointed to Gren, "Have all the fun! Wish me luck!"

As Calua left, Opera smiled and waved, "Be careful!" As Calua walked out of the doorway he gave a wave and a confident big smile. As the door was closed behind the feline and he was out of sight had Opera given a gentle sigh and brought her hands to her chest, as if gripping her heart.

"He will be fine." Gren stated as his notice Opera's movements, "He's a fool but he has endured far more then people come to realize."

Opera gently nodded, "I understand. Still though… this heavy burden in my chest is growing with every passing minute, as if something is coming and I should be afraid of it." Gren placed a hand upon her shoulder, giving her a strong look, "Everything will be fine. You'll see my lady."

Opera sighed and tried to smile, "Yes. You're Right." She looked up the monitor that was to display the fight from an overview perspective.

Meanwhile two men came into the room and moved Calua's robot over to the lifting pad with extra care. It was lifted up by the system just as Calua stepped out into the ring without riding his bot.

"Welcome everyone for today's grand battle!" The announcer stated as he took a step upon the middle of the stage. Everyone in the audience gave out a loud cheer as to show the crowd's excitement for today's events.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The Announcer showed the appreciation of the fans cheering. "As you know the rules of today's special event will be simple. There will be about five major fighters for today's event. If all members of a faction team are defeated then the faction is removed from the battle!"

"So let's get this battle started!" He pointed to the left, stating as Calua stood there, "The first is Calua Napage from the Kurvaz faction! Give him a cheer!"

The Crowd roared upon the request and Calua being a hot head raised his hands and fisted into the air, "Hey dudes! I'm going to win today!" Just as he said that the lift nearby brought up Calua's robot, OverMephisto, so he could climb in.

With Calua in his robot the Announcer pointed to the right, "And within this corner comes the Dark and mysterious Blue Devil member known only as Azul and his robot Harbinger!" Azul came from the shadow of the doorway into the light; the people seemed in a mixture of cheering and booing at the sight of him. Azul still wore his metal armor that kept his features hidden of course.

Azul's robot rose up from the lift; it was a special design with a black plate like coating and having stood at a height of only 18 feet. It look more like a humanoid with a more then a robot though its arms were missing with just holes and upon its backside were two tank's that connected to the shoulders of the robot.

Azul swiftly climbed up into his robot and looked to Calua on the other side who taunted, "Hey dude! Don't think you are going to win! I'll beat you down in five seconds flat!" Of course Azul was not amused by this comment but that didn't stop the announcer from stepping in, "Oh what is this! Already a self-declared rule made by Calua! Alright so if Calua can't defeat Azul within five seconds then he loses the battle!"

The crowd went wild, while Chocolat and Elh watched from the stage with concern, "Elh… do you see that Azul guy's robot? I wonder if that is a flamethrower on his back."

Elh narrowed her eyes, her concern was not to the robot but the male upon it… he seemed familiar in a way that she couldn't understand, "Azul… seems like…" she shook her head and watched with a concerning glance in her eyes.

Meanwhile Opera and Gren watched Azul and his robot and then Calua's stupidity declare the new self-imposed rule. "That airhead! He got himself in trouble again," Gren shouted at the screen, placing a hand to his face, "I should have gone out first!" Opera sighed and looked to Red who was waking up from Gren's shouting, "Hey pup."

Red looked up with sleepy eyes and asked, "Hey what's going on?" Opera looked back to the screen and stated, "Calua is in the first fight with a guy named Azul. He declared that he could defeat Azul in five seconds. Now it's a self-imposed rule!"

Red got up with wide eyes, "Ah man! I know the feeling of getting yourself stuck like that." Red had once done such a thing himself but pulled out on top as well. He watched with Gren and Opera as the battle was about to unfold.

Calua was a little confused at first but once realizing he had to defeat Azul in a really sort amount of time did not give into doubt, "Alright then! Let's start!" Azul altered his robot's position into an attack stance as Calua got ready.

The announcer made the call, "Ready!"

Elh widen her eyes as she noticed something about Azul just then. Her heart stopped as she felt then Azul's eyes moved to gaze at her.

"Set!"

Red grinded his teeth a little as he felt a sudden sense of terror that he never once experienced.

Opera widen her eyes as she saw something as well, her heart skinning and she let out a cry, "Calu-"

"GO!"

Azul was suddenly sped up at a rapid speed as the port like stubs of arms went twirl backwards and a massive amount of energy flew out of them. It was so fast that almost none would have seen it. Just a quarter of the distance way to Calua, who was charging, did the two arm stubs turn forward and a silver liquid spray out and take form in the split second, forming a large scythe that Azul slashed into OverMephisto with that intense speed backing it up. Harbinger stopped once the damage was done.

There was a long silence as Calua still gripped to his controls, shock in his eyes before he fell forward upon the robots controls and OverMephisto exploded upon its side and split in two, falling right over. Harbinger managed to retract the scythe before anyone could see what had fully done the damage.

The crowd and silent and the announcer were shocked. The announcer managed to mutter through his surprise, "A-A-Azul h-has m-managed to defeat Calua in nearly two in a half seconds! A new record! Medical teams will extract Calua now and we will prepare for the next round!"

Opera watched in horror and soon enough cried out "Calua!" She rushed out along with Gren, "Lady Opera!" He called after her. This left Red alone to view at the monitor… viewing Azul on the screen before rushing out as well.

The three managed to get up to the top deck where the crowd was and see Calua coming through with the medics, having to place him on a stretcher. The others could see that Calua took a lot of damage from the attack even though it was not direct upon him. There was a major burn mark upon his left side and his head was bloody.

Opera was petrified for a short while before slowly walking up to one of the medic's and asked, "I-Is he going to be okay?" The Medic looked at her with weary eyes and stated, "I never saw damage this bad before honestly. It seems that most of his lower bones have been crushed and his ribs are broken. I can't say that he will be okay yet."

Opera yelled out as tears started to form into her eyes, rage over coming her, "Can't you do anything for him!" Gren placed a hand upon Opera's shoulder and stated, "Lady Opera calm down." Opera lowered her head and sighed, "You're right Muffin."

Gren pondered something and then went over to the medical team and started to speak with them. After they listened to the male they turned and took Calua to the Royal Envy. "I'll see to Calua getting treatment. The golden Roar should be more then suited to any medical situation."

Opera sniffed softly while trying to hold back her tears, "No wait." She placed a hand upon Gren's shoulder, "I need you here. I'll go back."

Gren shook his head in response, "No, Lady Opera. Forgive my rudeness but you're needed here more then I. You are the leader of the Kurvaz and if you left after this defeat it might give the Blue devils a sense of confidence and lower our moral. The men do not need to see their beloved leader broken down like this."

Opera sighed softly and looked away, "Alright, please just make sure he is okay." She wrapped her arms around Gren which made him blush and widen his eyes. He looked down at her and gave the smallest comfort smile as he stated, "As you wish my lady." He slowly freed himself from her grasp and stepped into the Royal envy. The ship took off after Calua was loaded on along with Gren's robot that they brought up swiftly.

Red stood there in silence during the whole event, unable to form words at the sight of Calua, only to tighten his fists till it started to hurt.

Elh and Chocolat had made their way to the others after getting past the crowd. "Red what happened?" Chocolat asked as she watched Calua get loaded up, seeing the feline friend made Chocolat break down and start to sob.

"I-Is he?" Elh tried to ask, comforting Chocolat while she looked up to Red. "No," Red stated, his eyes never leaving the sight of Calua till he was gone, "He's being taken back to the Golden Roar to get advance medical treatment with Gren."

Red turned his gaze to the Arena and then stepped over to Chocolat, helping in comforting her with Elh. He couldn't help but look over to the Arena every now and then while thinking of Azul.

Red thought to himself "How could someone be that fast! It's impossible!" Red turned to Elh and spoke, "Elh… get contact with Merveille. Explain what happened and see if she can get here to see this. Something isn't right here." Elh nodded and slowly got up to try and find a message machine.

After a few moments Chocolat managed to regain herself and look to Red, "P-Please don't tell me you are going to have to fight him… I… I'm scared." Red softly nodded, "I have to sister." The first few times he ever called Chocolat sister was when he was truly serious. Chocolat slowly nodded and whispers while leaning in against her brother, "P-Please be careful." Red hugged her tightly and stated, "I will." After that she slowly let go and walked back to find Elh.

Red placed a hand upon Opera's shoulder, "I'm heading back down. Don't stay out here too much longer." Opera slowly nodded and watched as Red left back down the stairway.

Once back down into the lower decks did Red turned the corner which would lead him back to chamber 1. He was shocked to see Azul on the other end of the Hallway and coming his way as well. Red widens his eyes and tightens his fists once more as he kept walking.

Azul was fully aware of whom he saw before him but kept silent and just kept walking. The two got closer and closer, passing each other with a single glance that seemed to last a life time. Once this life time of a second passed the two kept walking away from each other till Red stopped and in turn Azul did as well, "I won't forgive you… you are a monster." Red stated calmly to Azul, not even facing him.

Azul stated in his dark voice, not facing Red either, "Then that makes you one as well… Brother." With that Azul turned the corner and left without another word.

This left Red alone with his silence. "Brother…" Red thought to himself as he entered into the chamber. He took a seat and started thinking to himself, "The only others to ever call me brother… are…" Red widens his eyes… "Could Azul be another Hybrid?"

Later Red would find how wrong he was…

And how much he would lose from this mistake…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


End file.
